The Devil's Blade
by RisenInfection
Summary: AU/AR. He grew in a society of blood and steel. He became strong and his lust for blood became even stronger. Now, Uzumaki Naruto, the feared Devil of the Flood, roams the land, seeking a new opponent to defeat him. Will that person... be you
1. Innocence

**Disclaimer:** I, RisenInfection, own nothing within that you may recognise. All elements of this story taken from the anime/manga, game, book, etc. are owned by their respective creators, producers, developers, and so on. I am not making a profit or monetary gain. This is solely for entertainment and fun.

**Author's Note: **Yeah I know, 'You're doing another story? Why?' Well, easy. Cause I freakin' can! Besides _The Demon's Blade_, the original, was becoming dull and confusing for me. So, read this and tell me what you think. Thanks!

* * *

**The Devil's Blade  
**_An epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By **_RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

Blood. It is the substance that sustains life. It is what lets us live, what lets us be who we are. But to me that means nothing. Natural death is fine but dishonorable to my kind. The only true way to die is by the blade of another. You're only a coward and a fool to die by your own.

For years, I was surrounded by blood, by the smell of copper, by the taste of metallic liquid. It was all that I ever knew, all that made me who I was and who I am. And it will never change. I thought I was a god then, surrounded by the blood of those who would clamber to take my life and my title. I was a fool, a delusional, psychotic fool whose only love was watching as the life left the poor bastards who challenged me.

But that was before I held _her_. It was before _she_ came into my hand and changed me. The change, you ask? Some may say that it was for the worst, but I say, it was only for the better. You wouldn't, I know, if you knew what I had to do to gain her, to _earn_ her, like some kind of animal. It matters not anymore, it's in the past, and I only have eyes for the now.

Blood. It is that which is most sacred to the human race. It is that which I now crave to spill, until the day I am cut down by another's sword. Will that day be soon, will it... be you...

**:::::::::**  
**Act I  
**_The Devil Swordsman  
_**:::::::::  
****Chapter 1**  
_Innocence; That Which is Lost_  
**:::::::::**

Sunlight, turned grey by the clouds that threatened to rain, shone down upon a barren valley devoid of any life. Where once a coursing river ran swiftly, was now a shallow gorge that ran into a giant, ash white tree that seemed to have been dead for centuries. A soft breeze blew through the valley, dead, fragile twigs and leaves sweeping with the draft as it blew towards the north. It was a scene of dead peacefulness, a scene of morbid calm. That peacefulness, that calm, was broken as the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out through the sunken land.

A young man with long dark hair tied into a ponytail skidded to a stop, a nondescript katana held in a close middle guard, a strong wind ruffling his green and grey kimono and hakama, respectively. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, the man continued to stare at his opponent across from him. Smirking smugly, the man relaxed his stance and straightened, his sword held loosely in his right hand. "Hahahaha! So this is the supposed 'Oomizu no Majin', eh? Some devil you are, you barely knocked me away. I thought you could kill without even drawing your blade."

Opposite the bold young man, a tall man wearing black and a mask stood near the great dead tree, impassive to his enemy's taunts. A long, elegant nodachi was held in his right hand, the meter long blade nearly touching the grey earth beneath the man. He only stared at smug young man through his black, canine-like mask.

The dark haired samurai clicked his tongue. "Not even going to respond. Bah! I didn't know you were such a fool." He sighed, rubbing the side of his head with his left hand. "Well, whatever, I guess it doesn't matter. I'll just take your life and title from you while your corpse is cooling after I kill you with my Multi-body technique.

"'Multi-body'?" the masked man repeated in a soft but gravelly voice as another slow breeze ruffled his black hakama and cloak, the loose ends of a blood-red obi waving in the wind.

"Yeah," the dark haired samurai's smirk turned into a sinister grin. "I mastered the Multi-body technique under Master Iiedo Daiki, the creator of the technique, before I killed him. I'd teach you myself, but, seeing as you'll be buried in this valley, I won't waste my time." Stepping into an inside guard, the young man prepared launch himself.

"Tell me your name."

The dark haired man hesitated for a moment, a look of surprise written on his face before he grinned maniacally. "Sure, why not. It's only polite, after all. The name's Kazumizu Hajime. There's no need for you to tell me yours, I already know it, hell the whole samurai world does, Devil of the Flood, Uzumaki Naruto!"

The masked man, identified as Naruto, only stared, his stance and posture never changing. He didn't even seem fazed by the young man's exclamation.

The light shining down upon the damned valley grew darker, a bolt of lightning cracked kilometers to the east of the two swordsman followed closely by a roar of thunder.

Hajime's eyes shifted from left to right, looking for something to set off the famous swordsmen. Satisfied the masked man wasn't going to attack first, he launched himself at his opponent as a droplet of rain hit the ground. A battle cry rolled out of his throat as he closed in on his prey, his sword ready to strike, and his eyes entirely focused upon the 'Devil's own.

The last thing that Kazumizu Hajime would ever see were the red eyes of his killer set alight by a flash of lightning.

**:::::::::  
****Time/Place Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

_He raised his sword quickly, blocking as another crashed into his. Pushing the opposing blade away from himself, he dashed forward raising his blade over his head and slashed down trying to bisect his opponent, but only left a deep cut in the earth._

_He spun to the left and swung his blade up, crashing his blade into his opponents own. The force of the blows blasted him and his opponent off their feet and to the ground. Gripping his blade tightly, he sunk it into the ground and rose quickly, using the blade for leverage. Pulling it out, he spun the sword in his right hand before stepping into a middle guard, ready to attack once more. He eyed his opponent, sizing him up and waiting, like a predator stalking its prey._

"_Naruto, that is enough for today," a blue haired man said calmly from the side of the practice platform the two samurai in training were on._

_He, Naruto, relaxed his stance and sheathed his katana before bowing to his opponent in respect. He stepped off the platform and up to the blue haired man, bowing his head as he did so._

**:::::::::**  
**The Valley of the Damned**  
_The Day After the Rainstorm_  
**:::::::::**

Uzumaki Naruto stood outside the dead tree, eyes as red as blood staring at another swordsman who came upon his valley. His long cloak was swept up as a light wind passed through the vale, the long bandages that kept his mask attached to his face waving in the zephyr with his unruly blond hair.

Just as the wind settled, the swordsman across from him flew forward, a giant claymore raised above his head. Naruto brought his nodachi up in a hanging guard with one hand and blocked the bald man's initial strike. Tensing the muscles in his right arm, the blond shoved the other man back with such force that the man had to stumble to regain his footing. Pressing his advantage, Naruto dashed forward and to the right as the bald man brought his blade down once more in a severing blow, but only managed to cut the earth.

Naruto stabbed forward, aiming for the man's head, but was parried as the bald swordsman swung his blade like a club. Spinning with the momentum of the parry, the masked man lashed out with his long sword and slashed the bald man's legs, severing his calf muscles. The man fell to his knees, his claymore stabbed into the ground to keep his body from collapsing.

Swinging his sword in a lazy circle, Naruto stepped up to the bald man, the edge of his nodachi coming to rest upon the back of the swordsman neck. "You fought well," the blond swordsman spoke, "but you relied too heavily upon your own strength and didn't trust your blade to guide you. Instead, you swung it as if it were a bludegeon or a mace."

"Fuck off and die, you monster," the bald man spoke with distaste.

Naruto's eyes hardened beneath his mask at the comment. "You first." He raised his blade.

**:::::::::**

Again, Naruto stood outside of the great dead tree, his sword sheathed and on his back, and his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes stared at the ashen wood of the dead plant. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head and sighed. It was time. Time to leave this forsaken place he had made his home.

How many years had it been again? How many years since that fateful night?

He turned, his cloak sweeping with him. He began to walk away. The answer to the question was one too many. It was time for him to reenter the world, not as an obstacle for master swordsman looking for a new challenge, but as the legend he was.

A murder of crows that had made the tree their home cawed as they flew into the air. Clouds of dark grey began to spiral around the dead valley, blotting out the sun's light and threatened to pour down upon the hapless earth. In the distance wolves and hyenas could be heard howling and laughing, respectively, as Naruto exited the Valley of the Damned, behind him and the tree, almost a thousand mounds with swords stabbed into them marked the graves of every swordsman who ever fought against the Thousand Man Slayer.

And in flash of lightning and a roll of thunder, the Devil of the Flood was gone from the graveyard he had made and maintained personally for almost six years and reentered the world he had tried to run from since the night he slaughtered a whole nation on his own.

**:::::::::  
****Time/Place Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

_He pressed his advantage against his blue haired master, dashing forward and attacking with a sweeping slash of his blade, but was too slow as his sensei jump over the attack, stabbing forward with his own blade, the black steel slicing into his collar bone, almost severing the joint before the blue haired man removed the blade, blood dripping from the nodachi sword._

_He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain as he brought his sword to bear, blocking an overhead strike then parrying a horizontal slash to the right. Dashing forward again, he quickly moved to the right, dodging another stab that would've killed him. He slashed towards his right, scoring a hit on his former sensei, the edge of his blade slicing through flesh, muscle, and tissue. He finished his slash arc on one knee, his sword painting the floor and walls of the dojo with his master's blood._

_The blue haired man dropped to one knee as he tried to ebb the flow of blood with his hand. He looked over to him, his best student. "Why? Why would you do this, Naruto?"_

_He stood, his blond hair matted to his head with sweat and blood. "Because, you have something I want."_

_The blue haired man's eyes widened before he looked down upon his sword. "This," he asked bringing the sword up, "this is what you want?"_

"_Yes."_

_The man snarled at him. "I won't let you. _She_ belongs to me. If you want her, you'll have to kill me." The blue haired man stood up and fell into a tight back guard._

"_So be it, Master Akira," he spoke, stepping into a back guard as well. _

_For only a second, the moon, its light as red as blood, was shrouded by black clouds, the sound of footsteps and metal slicing flesh rung through the heavy air. And then the clouds moved, the ominous moonlight shining once more._

"_Why, big brother?"_

**:::::::::**  
**Time/Place Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

Two men, both wearing ninja uniforms, stepped through a blue drape and into a small eatery. Both looked around, scouting out for any possible threats to their lives. All they found was an elderly couple enjoying a cup of hot tea, four young women eating an afternoon snack and gossiping about something or other, and a blond haired man in black eating a late lunch.

The men sat at a table and waited patiently to be waited on. After ordering some tea and couple plates of pork and dumplings, one of the men looked back over at the blond man as his partner leered at the young women, and noticed something he hadn't before as the man's had been facing them: the man had on a black mask that look sort of like a staring fox. Kicking his partner in the shin under the table, he motioned his head over to the masked man when he gained the attention of his friend.

The leering ninja tapped his fingers on the table as he faced his partner. _Keep an eye on him_

The other barely nodded. Their orders arrived just as they got resituated and relaxed. The young waitress gulped as she noticed the two shinobi were looking at the masked man in the corner. "Please, sirs, be wary of that man."

"Hmm? Why's that?" The ninja to first notice the man asked.

The girl looked around in vain to make sure no one was listening. She whispered, "An old man, a samurai by the look of him, had been peacefully eating here not an hour ago. That man over there had stepped in and the old man seemed to recognize him. He calmly walked up to him and challenged him to a duel. The man had accepted, and they had stepped outside. Not a moment later, that masked man stepped back in, alone."

Both ninja's eyes widened. While the man may be a samurai or possibly a ronin, which wasn't cause for much danger in a world populated by shinobi, one who could beat, no, _kill_, an obvious master of the bladed arts was a cause of some concern.

Gulping, they decided to leave the man alone unless made to fight him. It wouldn't be very good for their village if they died while off duty.

Almost half an hour later, the man in the black mask was still sitting at his table, calmly sipping on a cup of tea. The ninja were still very hesitant to leave the eatery, thinking only the worst could happen. Unfortunately, they were right, the worst did happen.

Five minutes later, a small band of wannabe gangsters stalked into the place and sat unceremoniously down at the table with the young women. The women tried to excuse themselves and leave, but were held down by the men.

One of the ninja were about to stop what was surely about to happen, but was kept down by his friend, who only shook his head then gestured towards the masked man who stood up sharply. The man reached into his coat-like cloak and pulled out a few bills, placing them on his table. He reached down and picked something up. The two ninja could only widen their eyes at what they saw.

"Damn! That thing must be two meters, at least!" One of them whispered as he laid witness to the man's nodachi. The other could only nod at his friend's comment.

The masked man stepped up to the table the gangsters had taken over, his red eyes visible and unblinking as he stopped in front of them. "Leave," he spoke in a soft, gravelly voice that sounded as if it hadn't been used in years.

The men looked up in their righteous anger, the women in obvious hope and relief. One of the men, a bald man with a scruffy goatee and a tattoo of a black tarantula, stood, enraged by the simple word. "What the fuck did you just say, you little shit stain?"

The masked man wasn't even fazed by the man's insult. "I said, 'Leave'," a little more force was put into the word.

"Hahahahahaha! Do you even know who we are, punk?" Another man asked the blond man, this one with dark, balding hair and wearing an expensive kimono. He smiled smugly as the masked man remained impassive. "Thought not. You see, we are the Na-"

"I don't care who you are or who you _think_ you are. Now, you will either leave these young women alone and never come back here or I will kill you and be over with it. I'll leave the choice to you, though I prefer the latter over the former."

"Fine," the rich-looking man practically yelled. "Boys, let's take this outside and show this motherfucker who he's fucking with." That one statement riled the gangsters up and on their boss' command they were up and out of the eatery in a moment. The boss turned at the entrance and addressed the man again. "And when we're done with you, we're gonna burn this whole joint down, think you can fight with that on your conscious, ya fuckin' asshole!" He turned and stepped outside.

The blond man just seemed to ignore the man as he knelt down and addressed the young women. "I'm sorry this happened to you, but I promise, it'll never happen again." He stood and walked towards the entrance.

"Thanks, mister," one of the women spoke. The man nodded and stepped outside. The two shinobi nodded to each other and were gone, the empty dishes and wad of ryou bills the only indication they had even been there.

**:::::::::**

Naruto pushed the blue curtain aside as he walked outside, the gang of men already standing in a half-circle, ready for a fight. The blonde's eyes moved from left to right, looking at each and every one of the men, looking for a challenging opponent. The old man from earlier had been a good workout, but was no competition to the blond swordsmen. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he felt two strong presences on the roof of the eatery behind him. He could feel the circulation of the energy the ninja used – chakra, wasn't it? – coursing through the two men's bodies, barely leaking to the surface, as if they were trying to suppress it.

The boss of the gang began to get impatient as the masked man just stared like a retard. "Hey, asshole! Weren't you going to kill us or something? I knew it! You were just all talk and that sword must just be for show, you stupid mother-"

"I won't need my sword to kill all you fools," Naruto interrupted the impatient man as he strapped the chain his sheathe was connected to around his torso, the hilt of his nodachi coming to rest near his right shoulder. "If you all are so impatient, then come, I will dutifully send you to Hell."

The boss snarled angrily. "Bring me his head and his sword, they'll make excellent decorations." The men roared out their war cry and rushed forward, intent on pulverizing the blond man.

The first one to reach Naruto tried to take his head off with a single punch, but was thwarted as his massive fist was slapped away by the blonde's left hand. The man's head snapped back with a sickening crack as Naruto caught him in the chin with a right open-palm strike. Quickly grabbing the man's arm he had knocked away, the blond spun the dead man around and threw the giant corpse into three other men, knocking them to the ground with the deadweight.

Quickly crouching, Naruto ducked under a speedy roundhouse kick. He then sprang up, avoiding a follow-up sweep kick. Landing, the masked man caught a left hook with his right hand and lashed out with a front snap kick to his attacker's chin with his right foot then another with his left. Firmly on the ground, Naruto brought the man in front of his body, a long chain wrapping around the man's throat. Naruto through the man away like a piece of trash and quickly knelt down with his back parallel to the ground, where above him two men stabbed each other in the face, killing the other with a pair of cheap katana.

Naruto launched forward from his crouch as the two cadaver's fell and rolled to the right as another chain slammed into the ground where he had been. Using the momentum from his roll, he ran at another gangster and delivered a flying roundhouse kick to the man's temple and sent him crashing into another man. Landing on his feet, the blond quickly flipped to his left as the chain swept under his feet catching another member of the gang, breaking both his legs with its momentous energy.

Looking up from his crouch, Naruto found the bald man with tarantula tattoo from before grinning smugly as he swung his chain above his head. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto dashed forward, a spray of dirt hitting a man coming up behind him with a morning star in the eyes, causing the man to fall back and lose his grip on his weapon, gravity letting it crush another man's face in with its downward force.

Jumping up, the masked man slammed his foot into an enemy's face and kicked off of him. He used three other men's faces as stepping stones before he dove forward, the bald man's chain passing under him. Naruto's eyes widened a fraction and the world seemed to slow as if time itself was stopping. As the chain was right under him, the blond tucked and rolled upon it like it was a solid surface. He rolled to his feet and dashed forward and sent a strong sweeping kick into the tattooed man's cheek, the man's head turning with a squelching crack until it faced behind the man.

Naruto rolled off the chain and landed on the ground. Standing straight up, time started once more, the fresh corpse he had made flying, crashing and splintering a tree nearby.

**:::::::::**

Igazami Hisao wasn't just panicking. He was outright shitting himself. Almost half of his men – a sickening crack and crash sounded out – okay, exactly _half_ of his men had been wiped out by a little fucking samurai, with his _fucking hands_. Samurai weren't supposed to know how to fight with anything but their fucking swords. It would seem that he had picked a fight with a shinobi. If he only knew just what the hell he was messing with.

"You all bore me," the masked monster spoke in that voice that sent chills up Hisao's spine. The gang leader gulped as a strong wind passed by him. He got real nervous when none of his remaining men moved. Suddenly, the blond man's eyes landed upon Hisao, the rich man's eyes widening when his cheek was splattered with a red, coppery liquid.

Looking around, Hisao found all of his men on the ground, dead and in pieces, lying in pools of their own blood. He shook before turning and trying to make a break for it, but was surprised when he was suddenly lifted into the air, his skull clenched in the taller man's right hand. A spot of wetness appeared on the front of the dead man's expensive kimono as he soiled himself. Hisao didn't care though; all that mattered was the blond man's eyes, which seemed to glow with the red fires of Hell itself and looked prepared to consume his soul as he felt nothing but the fear of God. And at that moment, Igazami Hisao _knew_ he was staring into the eyes of the Devil himself.

The masked monster's eyes narrowed before he tensed his hand, crushing the gang leader's skull. He dropped the corpse and turned away from the death he had left in his wake. A slight breeze blew through the road the small eatery was located and in an instant, the blond murderer was gone without a trace.

**:::::::::**

The two shinobi from earlier in the eatery sat, shocked and awed at the fight, no, massacre... the slaughter that they had witnessed. There had to have been ten-fifteen men waiting to kill the 'samurai' and the blonde had literally destroyed the entire gang in only under three minutes.

The first one to notice the masked man faced his partner. "You, know what this means, right?"

The leering man nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know."

The first man sighed. "Lord Hokage is _not_ going to like this one bit."

* * *

**AN:** What's up? You done reading it? Cool! Now I just want to say, especially if you're a former reader of _The Demon's Blade,_ I just got to say, I am sorry and I am not going to make an excuse as to why I am posting a new fic. All I have to say is that I am one of the laziest people on the Earth.

But, my laziness aside, I hope you enjoyed reading this. I tried very hard to make Naruto quiet and powerful, unlike how he was in _The Demon's Blade_. I think I explained very well what happened in the past as to how he gained his nodachi and why he's feared. I also tried something: a sort of prologue at the beginning of the chapter that _should_ shed some light as to what Naruto is thinking.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'll, hopefully, post Chapter 2 next Friday. Now, while you wait, you can tell me what you thought in a review. Thanks!

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	2. The Unfeeling Dog

**Disclaimer:** I'm not very sure I would _want_ to own the _Naruto_ series, the way its been going just puts me off a bit. Anyway, I own nothing you recognize and, most likely, never own it. This is purely for fun entertainment puposes and is not meant for monetary any type, shape, or form.

**Author's Note (the beginning):** What's up? Nothing. Well then, why you're here, why don't you skim along down and read this new little chapter here. Oh, and while I'm at it, I might as well get it out there.

_One:_ This chapter, like the first one, is sort of a prologue. It'll introduce another major character, though not as major as Naruto himself, and will show you a level of Naruto's utter badassery, though it feels like a filler.

_Two:_ I believe this chapter will be sort of short and I apologize, though personally, I dislike humungously long chapters that get boring a quarter way through. Those just put me off, like the Sasuke chapters of _Naruto_.

Now, you may read. Enjoy!

**

* * *

The Devil's Blade  
**_An epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By **_RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

Happiness. Joy. Compassion. I understand what these words mean and the emotions that are tied to the words, but I do not need them. They are a weakness, a blockade to absolute power. I have passed this defense by denying that these emotions exist within me, by denying that I am capable of these feelings, that is when you attain absolute power, and accept the loss of your humanity.

At one time in my life I was happy, innocent. I didn't know of the world beyond the academy walls. All that I knew was the teachings, my blade, and my _family_. I don't believe I could call them that anymore, but thinking about it brings me happier memories, thoughts of what was and what could've been had I not been so selfish, so narcissistic, so void. I could blame it on this cursed style, this cursed sword I wield, but deep in my soul, I know though that it is I to blame, I, who must carry the guilt and regret of that night so long ago...

Why is it that humans must feel? Why is it that what makes humans so different from animals, so much stronger, must be something I can never again have? Why does it hurt when I think about _them_, when I think of _her_ and what I took away from her? But, alas, I am not so weak as to believe that my _emotions_ make me strong, make me who I am. And I am not so gullible as to think that loving someone, that being happy and carefree will bring me what I desire in life.

No, what I desire, what I want more than anything still eludes me, still is shrouded in my mind. I may never know what it is, I may never know until the day I die. But until that day, I will continue to live my life as I have, I will continue to survive, continue to exist as what I am... The Thousand Man Slayer...

**:::::::::**  
**Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_**:::::::::  
****Chapter 2**  
_The Unfeeling Dog_  
**:::::::::**

_His steps were quick, but measured as he trailed behind her; drops of blood fell like rain to the wooden surface below him from his new sword. It would take some time to adjust to _her_, but he was already getting a good handle for _her_, as there was almost an infinite amount of cannon fodder to test his mettle._

_He turned the corner and quickly raised his blade; the pitch black edge blocked two silvery swords from slicing into its new master. He slashed his blade down, the swords of the two samurai fell to the grounds, the blades cut diagonally in half. Blood soon met the ground as well, his blade passing through the swordsmen's body's like a hot knife through butter._

_He narrowed his eyes and in an instant was down the hall, screams of death echoing behind him as he passed, the floor and walls painted red in his wake._

_His eyes, red as the blood he spilt, landed upon _her_. It seemed that she had tripped on a loose floorboard. How unfortunate. _

_Suddenly, the girl he had been hunting was pinned down by his sword, rammed through her back and into her stomach. He circled around her like a wolf stalking its wounded prey. He knelt down to her eye level, a sadistic grin spreading across his face. She was crying. He took some type of sadistic pleasure at the sight. _

"_Why?" She squeaked._

_His smile faded. "I did what I had to do to have _her_, you wouldn't understand, no one would understand. Those who do are already dead, slain by _her_ edge."_

_She looked up to him, her violet eyes puffy and bloodshot. "B-But why? Why us, damn it? We treated you as family, we loved you... I loved you!"_

_His eyes widened by a margin. A soft, sad smile adorned his lips. "I am sorry, but I must do what I am compelled to."_

_The girl gritted her teeth in anger, in hate, in rage, in fury, in disgust... in sorrow. "I-I hate you! I hate you! I wish I had never known you-you monster! You demon! I wish you were never born, you bastard!"_

_Deep down inside of him, inside of his soul, his heart, sadness reared its ugly head, but it was quelled by anger and indifference. He threaded his hand through her sea-green hair and pulled her head up to his eyes. "Then after this, live. Live in your hatred, in your anger. Stew in it, let it fester and boil over. And when you are ready, come face me in combat. Let that hate, that anger become your strength, your power, let it consume you. If you live, come and kill me, so I may test my blade against a worthy opponent. Such, is the way of honor."_

_He threw her head back down into the wooden floor and gripped his blade. He twisted it, eliciting a scream of pain from the girl before he removed it. He kicked her on to her back. "Something to remember me by..." And he stabbed his blade into the center of her chest, through her back, and into the floorboards below. He sunk his sword until the guard touched her skin and turned the blade once more before removing it._

_He spun his blade, her blood splashing onto the ceiling and the floor. He shouldered his nodachi and began to walk away, not even giving the girl a second glance. "Goodbye, Little Sister." And then he was gone, forever._

_That same night a whole nation of samurai fell to one ten year olds blade. That night, what history would come to know as the __Kouchou no Zansatsu, the Massacre of the High Tide, occurred. That night, a happy girl became a spiteful woman. That night, a student became a master. That night, a boy became a legend._

**:::::::::**  
**The Hidden Leaf Village**  
_One Year after the Nagatama Gang Slaughter__  
_**:::::::::**

Mountainous amounts of paper litter the office on the top floor of the Hokage Tower. A large wooden desk sat with the symbol of the Leaf displayed proudly within the copious amounts of paper. Hidden behind a wall of white, the rising sun's light shone down upon a man with unruly blond hair in his late thirties, who had his head upon a small pile of paper, a little strand of drool hanging from a goofy smile as he slept.

To the right of his head a framed picture of him, a red haired woman, and a young girl with strawberry blonde hair sat on the desk, the reminder of his family. To the left of his head were five pictures, four black and white, one in color. The pictures all showed one man, a man the shinobi of the Leaf had come to avoid at all costs, a man they came to know as the Oomizu no Majin: the Devil of the Flood.

A stray beam of sunlight hit the man in his face, making him snort and clench his eyes tighter as he turned his head to the left. It was obvious to the man that some god did not want him to sleep any longer as his cheek laid into his cold, stray saliva. Opening his eyes, the man lifted his head tiredly, blinking away the sleep and mucus. Shaking his head, the man found what he had been looking at last night. It was _him_.

"It's too early for this crap," the man whispered to himself. Standing, the man shambled around the piles of paperwork and fell through a door as he opened it.

An hour and a half later the man came back out the same door he fell through, stretching his arms and dressed in the average Jounin uniform with a white cloak over it. He rubbed the back of his head, messing up his unruly mop of blond hair even more than usual as he stared at the amount of paperwork he still had left to do. Yep, it was just another day in the life of Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage.

**:::::::::**  
**Time/Place Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

Naruto sighed as he awoke. He was in a forest; the leaves were already beginning to change from green into various shades of browns, yellows, oranges, and reds. That must've meant he was in or around the Land of Fire, most likely pretty close to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Relaxing, Naruto thought about the last year. He had been reasserting himself as the living legend that he was and not only to the samurai world, but to that of the shinobi world as well. He figured that it would be a matter of time before the world over heard of him and began to fear him. He had no doubt in his mind that every swordsman on the continent feared or revered him by now.

The blonde stood and stretched his arms and back, his nodachi firmly grasped in his left hand. Rolling his head along his shoulders, a satisfying pop indicated that irritating kink in his neck was gone. He looked down at his sword, at _her_.

He sighed again before strapping the nodachi to his back. It was no time for reminiscing about past events, past sins. The masked man walked quietly for a few moments through the autumn forest, the only sounds being that of nature and the leaves crunching under his feet. He crossed his arms as he walked and closed his eyes, enjoying his surroundings while he could.

Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes open and his arms at his sides. Turning his head from left to right, Naruto closed his eyes again and extended his senses through the forest. There. Four signs of human life, heading to the north of where he stood. Concentrating a bit harder, he found another circulation of energy, this one much weaker than the other four, but it was traveling a lot faster than the others.

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at a tree in the distance, pondering what to do. It was obvious that the four were Leaf ninja's, most likely ANBU, and one they were chasing was some type of criminal and that one with the small amount of energy was heading towards the border. The blond had an inkling of a feeling that the criminal had a backup plan set in the next country and the four Leaf shinobi would be screwed if they couldn't get reinforcements in time.

His fist clenched as a thought passed through the masked man's mind. He had several choices at hand. He could go and stop the criminal for the ninja's, he could just leave them all be and go on his merry way, or he could do things the _right_ way, which would be the destruction of whatever the criminal's backup plan was. He nodded to himself at the last choice. That would be his best bet to test his blade on someone strong.

Mind made up, Naruto took off in a swift dash to the north, moving to pass up the criminal before he could get to the border.

**:::::::::**

Rokusawa Katsuro grinned beneath his dark green mask as he looked back at those idiot Leaves. He couldn't really believe his luck: he had been able to get in to his target's home, which had supposedly been protected by three squads of Leaf's finest, the purportedly strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations.

'_Ha! 'Strongest' my skinny, pale ass,'_ Katsuro thought to himself as he ran. The four chasing him were all that were still active, the other eight knocked out or in a critical state of shock.

The masked assassin landed smoothly on a tree branch and leapt forward, continuing at a fast pace. It was just a few more kilometers before he reached the border of a small country, where he would make his getaway to the Hidden Cloud Village.

The masked assassin had heard reports that a dangerous group of warriors calling themselves the Black Earth Clan. Having done a small amount of digging before hand, like a good ninja should, Katsuro found that the group was a highly trained group of ninja's, most specializing in out right assaults. Though he didn't know the full story, the thin man had found that the group of over a hundred were originally from the Hidden Stone Village and had went rogue, and had stored hope in Katsuro that the group had not forgotten their hatred of the Leaf.

It was only too bad today was the last day Rokusawa Katsuro had to live.

**:::::::::**

Three men sat around a round table, playing a game of poker. Seven other men were hanging around the front of the complex they called Base and nearly ninety others were inside the main complex doing something or the other to quell the boredom they were feeling at the present moment. These men were the main force of the Black Earth Clan, the largest organization of missing-nin from the Stone.

Ganpeki Mikio, a nearly three meter tall man built like a mass of rocks jumbled together into a human, grinned as he laid out an ace high straight flush. The two other men at the table groaned as the giant of a man brought in his winnings. Just as another sat down at the table to join in, the door to the 'secret base' was blown in, flying at the guardsman in chunks, killing two men and injuring two others.

The five still left standing drew their various weapons, standing at the ready for the impending attack. Mikio drew a giant double-edged axe from where he had smashed it into the ground next to the poker table.

The dust that had been kicked up by the attack showed a silhouette of a tall man, nearly two and a quarter meters tall, wearing large, baggy clothing with a long stick-like thing – they guessed it was a hilt to a weapon – looming over his shoulder. The dust settled and revealed the man to be wearing black samurai garb and a black mask of some kind of canine.

The masked man looked around before staring straight at Mikio. "Are you the leader of these men?"

Mikio smirked smugly. "So what if I am tough guy?" He put the long but sturdy shaft of his axe on his shoulder, a display of strength perhaps. "What are you going do about it?"

The intruder only stared at the large man. "Plus these five and the two on the ground, I count exactly one hundred and eighteen men, not including you." He looked down and seemed to notice something on the ground. "I see you're a gambling man."

The larger man scowled as his men began to get anxious. He could hear the others preparing for the battle that was surely to come. "What of it?"

"I'm willing to make a little wager with you. If you can stop me from killing all of your men and yourself in four minutes and thirty-nine seconds, I'll let you live one more day. But, if I win, well I guess I can add one hundred and nineteen more men to the death list for today."

"Cocky little shit, aren't ya? Alright then, you got yourself a deal, maggot. Just tell me one thing before I send you to Izanami so she can feast on ya. Did you kill a man named Genjitsu Akihiro?" Mikio asked, slamming his axes blade into the ground, signaling for his men to get ready.

The masked man just stared, his unruly blond hair waving forward as a light breeze blew into the complex. "I'll tell you, if you manage to live. You should pray to whatever god you believe in, the time starts... now."

Grabbing his axe and throwing up a lousy guard, Mikio was barely able to block as a blur of black crashed into him, a blade of black steel cutting through the shaft of his weapon and into his own armor. The large man's eyes widened like plates as the blood of his men sprayed all around him, the man in the mask cutting through his armor with an almost ridiculously long sword, his blood-red eyes staring at the larger man, like a wolf appraising its meal.

**4:30  
**_Seven Dead_

Mikio felt a strange sensation pass through his body as he flew through the door that led to the main complex. It felt like a twisting of his veins, like his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. Maybe it was the concussion, but the large man had to wonder, 'was this fear?' The giant flew through another set of doors, through his men, and into a concrete wall.

**4:00**  
_Ten Dead_

The masked man blurred into the center of the complex and instantly ducked as a steel bo staff passed over his head. He spun and slashed through the staff wielders abdomen, severing his digestive system and killing the man. Using his momentum, the swordsman rose in his spin and cut through a pair of kali sticks a man almost bashed him in the back with, the masked man's long sword cutting through the stick man's skull and scalped the top of his head clean off.

**3:50**  
_Twelve Dead_

Mikio's forces hesitated for an instant as two of their comrades died by a single blade stroke. They regained their bravado and roared, charging with weapons drawn.

The blond man only stared at the rushing men before disappearing in a black and gold blur. He reappeared on the other side on one knee, his sword raised above his head, coppery blood dripping next to him. In another instant, red rained down as nearly half the men exploded and fell, bisected and dead by the masked man's assault.

**3:35**_  
Sixty Eight Dead_

The swordsman in black stood, not even phased in the slightest that he had just wiped out fifty six men with a single sword stroke. Mikio gritted his teeth in anger and snarled like a rabid dog, he looked at the fifty men still standing, their expressions like that of a fish, stunned at the display of power by their mysterious assailant.

"What the _FUCK_ are you all waiting for? _Kill that motherfucker_!" The giant screamed, his throat going hoarse. His men snapped out of their stupor, rage and fury replacing what they were feeling. They rushed in, creating a circle around the killer. The masked man took their offensive in stride, his sword a flash of black as it blocked, parried, and killed all of its would-be opponents.

**1:00**  
_One Hundred and Eighteen Dead_

"Now, your turn 'tough guy'," the masked man mocked as he turned to the larger man whose stony features were doing a great impression of a fish out of water.

Mikio shook his head, his face gaining a look of anger. "I'll show you asshole!" He jumped and came back down hard, his hands in a hammer fist that sent a shockwave directly at the masked killer. The man only stepped to his left, the wave only managing to sweep his cloak back. Mikio scowled before dashing at the man, his right fist cocked back as he rushed towards the masked monster.

**0:45**

He threw punch after punch, but the masked man only sidestepped or knocked his fists away with the flat of his blade. Cocking back his right fist again, Mikio smiled psychotically; he had the fast bastard against a wall. Putting all his strength into his attack, he tensed his muscles and punched... and did nothing but put a hole in his base.

**0:30**

The masked man looked at what could've been him if he hadn't stepped to his left in the nick of time. Finally attacking, the murderer slashed the giants arm, the sound of steel hitting steel his only reward.

Mikio grinned as he saw what the smaller man had done. "Little trouble there, huh, tough guy? You won't cut through my skin so easily, it's as hard as steel, you-"

"Well it's a good thing then," the red eyed killer interrupted, Mikio's eyes going wide as he spoke in that harsh voice, "that I can cut through steel."

Mikio once more had that sensation he thought was fear as he flew to the ground, his armor in shreds and his chest bleeding profusely.

**0:15**

The masked man walked up to the downed man, his sword on his right shoulder held lazily as he stared down at the soon to be corpse. "Pray to your God for mercy, 'tough guy', for I will not be as generous."

The soon to be dead giant looked to his right and grinned. He lifted his arm and smashed it through the hollow floor he laid on. "Why don't you die first and I'll follow you into Hell, you damned monster."

**0:10**

The large man pulled something under the ground and stared into his would-be killer's eyes, eyes that burned with the fires of Hell, eyes that held pain and strength. They were the eyes of someone who didn't feel. They were the eyes of a dog trained to kill, trained to die within the thick of battle. They were the eyes of an unfeeling dog of war.

At that very moment in time, Ganpeki Mikio knew even if he hadn't done what he had just did he would be completely and utterly fucked in the ass no matter what he did. At that very moment, the giant knew the wrath of God was this man in front of him, this devil before him. The moment after, the giant knew no more.

**0:00**

**:::::::::**

Rokusawa Katsuro hadn't been shocked many times in his life, though two did occur to him from time to time. But to say he was shocked now would be an understatement.

He was only ten meters away from the base of the Black Earth Clan, when it erupted in a large ball of flames and smoke, the force of the explosion blasting him out of the tree he had perched in and to the hard ground below. He coughed as a cloud of smoke passed over him and filled his lungs with deadly gases and water vapors. Using a nearby tree for leverage, the assassin stood and limped slowly deeper into the blast sight. He was sure his left ankle was either twisted or possibly broken as he favored his right leg.

Covering his mouth he tried to look deeper through the haze, hoping that someone was alive, hopefully a mole from Cloud, though it was unlikely. He was just about to move further into the smoke when six sharp knives found their way into his back.

Katsuro grunted as he fell to his knees and then to his chest, finding that a couple of his ribs were broken and one was puncturing his right lung. Looking up for someone, anyone he found a grisly sight that would be the last thing he'd see.

A man, by his stature, stood in the blaze of what had been a base, his black samurai clothing torn and burnt in many places, the clothing barely staying on his form. He held a long sword in his right hand that didn't seem damaged in the least, though the blood dripping from its edge suggested the man knew how to wield it. A cracking black mask of some type of canine hung on his face, the upper left side completely destroyed, revealing slightly tanned skin and a blood red eye. The man looked over to Katsuro before vanishing in blur of black, the flames flickering as the man passed by them.

As he lay there dying, Katsuro _knew_ he had just seen the God of Death, having come to take his soul to the underworld.

**:::::::::**  
**The Hidden Leaf Village**  
_One Day after the Black Earth Incident_  
**:::::::::**

Namikaze Minato rubbed his temples, his migraine only becoming worse as a loud roar of thunder boomed outside of his office. Ever since twelve of his elite ANBU had returned from a failed mission, it had been raining nonstop. What four of the Black Ops agents had witnessed while pursuing an assassin from the Cloud through Black Earth Clan territory just added to the substantial work he had to do.

He looked down at his desk, a picture of a tall man with blond hair wearing a black mask of some type of canine and wielding a long nodachi sword lay there, mocking him. This was the man his ninja had reported seeing, the same man from one year ago: the Devil of the Flood.

More and more, the Fourth Hokage was beginning to dislike and respect the man. He had his reasons to do so after all. He was just glad the man hadn't killed any of his shinobi as of yet. The blond man would make it his mission to personally end the killing streak of the Thousand Man Slayer if that were to happen.

Minato sighed and leaned back into his comfy chair, letting thoughts of work and death pass away from his mind. He reached up to his flak jacket and opened a pocket on the chest. Reaching in, he pulled out a golden locket attached to a thin, gold chain that his wife had given him nearly a decade and a half ago, and opened it. Inside was a picture of a slightly younger him, his redheaded wife, and a small blond boy. All three were smiling, the boy and his father more broadly than the mother.

The Fourth smiled sadly as tears fell from his blue eyes, memories of a past he had gained and thoughts of a future he had lost passing through his mind. But there was one thought, a name, that made it passed the others and into the forefront of the blonde's mind:

_Naruto_

**

* * *

Author's Note:** Well, are you done reading? Sweet! I wrote this chapter right after the first one, had the juices flowing for a little while (why does that sound dirty?). Anyways, chapter three might come out the week after next or next week possibly, if this chapter is recieved well, which I hope it is.

Anyway, I might be occupied next week as I'm getting the game [PROTOTYPE], which will hopefully be one of the greatest games I've ever played, though Mass Effect will stay as my top game. I seriously cannot wait (though I'll have to {God Damn It!}) for Assassin's Creed 2 and Mass Effect 2, which will hopefully be some of the best games I've ever played. Well, whatever.

I hope you enjoyed this and please, don't feel shy to review. Thanks!

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	3. Red Waves

**Disclaimer:** Ahem! Why am I disclaiming that I claim this? *****Looks over shoulder***** When the hell did all those lawyers get here? *****Cringes***** Whatever. I, RisenInfection, do hereby solemnly swear that I own nothing of value, including the manga/anime series _Naruto_. Not that I really want to own it anyways, cause I'm just that awesome. Now I'm going to go cry in a corner somewhere.

**Author's Note:** A week hiatus and I have returned! Not as epic as I would hope though. And just so you know, I spent all day yesterday rewriting this chapter (it got kinda dumb once I read it for the first time) and writing chapters four and five. Now, I want to bring up a few of things.

One, to those who were looking forward to reading _Tears of a Devil,_ it's under reconstruction... again. I seriously don't where I want to take it and each time I write it, I usually get Dante's attitude way wrong and feel that I am not worthy of writing in the _Devil May Cry_ fandom, even if it is only a crossover.

Two, to those who undoubtedly feel the chapters are kind of short, if you don't mind reading a semi-short chapter, my updates will come a lot faster, maybe every Friday, especially because I'm planning to keep focused on this fic alone and set all my other projects on the back burner.

And Three, on topic of the chapter below, if you have read as many fanfictions as I have, you will most likely get subtle messages within. I don't _really_ want to put up a legend, because I just want to believe that you'll get everything as it comes to you. Plus, it's better that I have you asking questions that I'll answer in future chapters. That's my philosophy, ask questions I already know the answer to, sit back and let them try find the solution, then somewhere down the line, give them the answer with another question attached. Pure win!

So, now that you have read that, you can read the fic below. Thanks!

**

* * *

The Devil's Blade**  
_An epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By** _RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

My first and last memories were of the academy in the Land of High Tides. Truthfully, I cannot remember anything further back from then. But at the time, I paid it no thought as I threw myself into my training, especially after I saw _her_, after I felt _her_. She was like a beacon of understanding, of care, and I wanted nothing more than to embrace her comfort and slay the fools who dared to oppose me.

I suppose now, that I have the chance to think about it, that I was selfish and greedy, murderous and unfeeling. But, that was what I felt... until the day I held _**her**_. I was nothing but a cowardly soul killing others to find my place in the world, until _**she**_ whispered to me and guided me. Until _**she **_showed me what I could truly do, what I could become. We didn't meet until that day, though I still fell in love with her after she whispered to me...

**:::::::::**  
**Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_**:::::::::  
****Chapter 3**  
_Red Waves_  
**:::::::::**

He stumbled and fell to the ground, his aching body groaning in relief as he finally rested after the explosion. He had had to get away before anyone could see him. If he was caught he'd be dead within an hour.

Sighing, Naruto tried to flip himself onto his back so he could rest properly, but his arms and legs wouldn't budge. After two minutes of trying to will his sore body to move, he just gave up and closed his eyes. He remembered a time during training when he had laid in his bed, beaten and bruised, his body aching and raw from his first day of learning his former master's personal style. It had been the first day he had felt _her_, the first day he had held _her_ in his hand. After that moment, his sensei had never trained him harder than those seven years of his life.

Exhaling, the blond began to drift off into a deep sleep, dreams of training and family passing into his hazy, clouded mind. Memories of past times keeping the nightmares of what he had done from his restful slumber, a small whispered nothing in his head easing the pain he felt.

_**Rest, my container…**_

**:::::::::**  
**The Hidden Leaf Village**  
_Two Years after the Black Earth Incident_  
**:::::::::**

"No!" A girl no older than twelve with strawberry blonde hair shouted, her arms crossed in an 'X' over her orange shirt. Her eyes were squeezed tight as she continued to shout, "No! No! NO! I won't do another one of those stupid chores that anyone else could do."

Two other children, a boy with raven hair and a girl with bright pink hair, and a man with grey hair all sighed at the girl's antics.

The blond Hokage only rubbed his forehead as he listened to his daughter complain about the horror known as the D-Ranked Mission List. To his right, a tanned man with a scar across his nose admonished the girl and explained the ranking setup to her.

Finally feeling fed up as his daughter talked about the wonders of ramen with her teammates, the Fourth slapped his hand to his desk. "Kakashi!"

The grey haired man turned to the blond man and stood a little straighter, a real first for the usually lazy man. "Yes, sensei?" Hatake Kakashi asked in a semi-lazy drawl, his students staring at him like he grew another head.

"One, you don't have to call me that anymore," the blond said, his face wearing a small smile as he looked at his only student left. "And two, do you believe that Team Seven is ready to take on a C-Rank mission?"

Kakashi brought a hand up to his masked chin and thought for several moments. "Honestly," his students looked up to him hopefully, "no, I don't." And that hope was instantly dashed. "But, I think it would be an opportune time for them to test their skills in live combat." And the hope in their teacher was restored.

Minato nodded, thinking on the same lines of his former student. He raised his left arm and snapped his fingers. "Let him in." A pair of sliding doors opened to Team 7's right, an old man wearing raggedy, grey clothing and holding on tightly to a bottle of liquor stepped into the mission room. "Team Seven, meet Tazuna, your mission's objective." The three preteens looked to the Hokage with various looks of wonder. "Your mission is simple: you will escort Tazuna back to his home in the Land of Waves and protect him from danger as he builds a bridge there."

The drunken old man looked at the children before him and scoffed. "They don't look like much, especially the short, blonde one."

The strawberry blonde girl laughed boisterously as she placed her fists on her hips. "Stupid old man, what short, blonde... one... Hey!" The girl tried to jump and tackle the old man, but was caught by her lazy sensei.

"You'll have to excuse her, sir. Natsuko gets a little temperamental when she hasn't had her medication," the Jounin drawled, his single eye upturned in a reverse 'U'. "But despite that, if my students aren't able to handle a few bandits, I'll still be there."

"Yeah, bandits, right. Ahahahaha!" The old bridge builder muttered to himself before laughing as he left, the liquid in his bottle swishing merrily.

The room grew silent as everyone stared at where the man had stood, their expressions crying 'is he crazy?'

Shaking his head and ridding himself of his stupor, the Fourth cleared his throat gaining the rooms attention. "Team Seven, you have your orders, you're dismissed. Kakashi, I'd like to talk to you in my office... alone."

Kakashi nodded and turned to his team. "Sakura, Sasuke, pack for a week's travel. Natsuko, please try not to get into trouble before we leave. You can go now." His team nodded and left, the blond girl shooting a raspberry at her teacher as she exited.

**:::::::::**

The Fourth sat as Kakashi entered his office, his hands folded before his mouth with his elbows on his desk. The grey haired man knew that pose, standing a straighter as he became serious.

"Unfortunately," the blond spoke, his voice sharp and crisp, "I believe that our client has lied to us about the true ranking of this mission."

"So are we dropping it?" The lazy jounin asked.

Minato shook his head. "No, the Wave is too impoverished to afford anything of higher rank than this. I will list it in the ranking system as an A-Rank mission, though I may have to make it an S-Rank."

"Why is that, sir?" Kakashi questioned, curious as to what his former sensei was thinking.

The blond man sighed and picked something off of his desk and handed it to Kakashi. The man accepted it and looked at it.

The object was a colored picture of a tall blond man's back. The man wore black samurai-style clothing and had a long sword, most likely a nodachi strapped to his back, the hilt looming over his head. It seemed the man was walking peacefully and didn't know he was being photographed.

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at." He was handed another picture and the grey haired man felt his eye widen. The picture depicted what looked like hundreds of dead bodies scattered around the same road the swordsman was walking along in the other picture. Kakashi felt sickened as he took in the sight of blood, gore, and death. "S-Sensei, what the hell is this? What did this man do?"

The Fourth sighed again, rubbing away the coming migraine. "That man is the same man who committed the Nagatama Gang Slaughter three years ago and the Black Earth Incident two years ago." He watched as Kakashi's eye widened further. "He is also the reason why nine years ago a whole nation, filled with master samurai, fell off the map. We don't have a name for this man, just a few titles we learned of."

"What are they?" The lazy man asked in a soft drawl, his curiosity piqued. He hadn't heard of anyone actually being able to wipe out a whole nation by themselves, even if it was a samurai.

Minato stood and turned to the windows behind him, staring out at the village he swore to protect. "He is called the Thousand Man Slayer and the Oomizu no Majin: the Devil of the Flood. Watch out for him Kakashi, I don't want any deaths on this mission because of him."

**:::::::::  
****Outside the Leaf Village**  
_Three Hours after the Mission Briefing_  
**:::::::::**

"Ahahahahaha!" Natsuko laughed loudly with a smile lighting up her face. "I didn't ever think I'd be able to actually leave the village, not with dad and mom watching over me all the time, but I showed them."

"Keep it down, will ya, idiot?" Haruno Sakura grumbled. The boy in the back of the group, Uchiha Sasuke, only grunted as he brooded while walking.

"Ah, come on, Sakura. It's my first time outside of the village. I _never_ get to go outside the village," Natsuko exclaimed as her long, spiky hair bounced while she jumped up and down ecstatically.

Kakashi chuckled at his student's behavior. "Don't think that they're still not watching you Natsuko, you have to remember that I am your sensei, after all."

Natsuko turned and smiled. "I didn't forget, Uncle Ka-Ka."

The grey haired jounin's only visible eye twitched at the name as his two other students and their client began to snicker at the name. "What have I told you about calling me that?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, the girl only smiled and laughed. "I can't recall Uncle Ka-Ka, you might have to refresh my memory... Uncle Ka-Ka!"

Sighing, Kakashi just knew this trip had gone from bad to worse, and they were barely a hundred meters from the walls of the village. He slapped his forehead, hoping that something right might just luckily happen.

**:::::::::**

A few hours of walking later, the pink haired girl, Sakura, decided that a little conversation would do the group some good, even if it was informative. "Mr. Tazuna?"

"What is it?" The old man answered irritably.

"Your country is 'The Land of Waves,' right?" The girl curiously questioned.

Tazuna narrowed his eyes as he looked up to the sky. "What of it?"

The girl ignored his response and turned to her jounin teacher. "Say, Kakashi-sensei...? Are there any ninja in that country too?"

"Hmm..." Kakashi thought for a moment, remembering what the Fourth had told him and what he had looked up in the archives before he left for the mission. "No, there aren't any ninja there, but they don't really need any either as they have a natural defense of the sea surrounding the land. But, if I recall right, that at one time, maybe a decade ago, the country was protected by the Land of High Tides, a country dominated by samurai."

"Samurai?" Natsuko asked, her interest piqued by the simple conversation. Even Sasuke seemed curious, if his turned head was any indication.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, but, I think they all died out somehow, leaving the Land of Waves to fend on their own."

"Hmmph. 'Died out' my ass," Tazuna grunted out, agitated for some reason.

The lazy man raised his eyebrow in puzzlement. "Is there something you would like to add, Mr. Tazuna?"

"Harrumph," Tazuna cleared his throat and his head from the haze of his alcohol. "Alright then, I'll give the little brats a lesson they won't forget for awhile. The story goes like this: One night, almost nine years ago, a child, maybe a few years younger than you three, up and killed everyone in the academy he lived and learned in, this included the man who taught him, Shiokaze Akira. In that same night, the boy moved through the small nation and killed over one thousand human beings, earning him the title of the Thousand Man Slayer.

"Those who were not on the island of the night of the slaughter were soon killed afterwards by the boy and left us of the Wave without protectors," Tazuna explained, sighing as he looked down at the earth below him. "He had another title that no one believed was true until that night; the Oomizu no Majin."

"'Devil of the Flood'?" Sasuke asked, disbelief written upon his pale face. "What a ridiculous name. Besides, there's no way someone younger than me can kill a whole nation."

Sakura nodded rapidly, agreeing with her love interest. "He's got a point you know, there's no way that that could've happened."

Kakashi, after absently noticing a small puddle of water, ruffled the pink haired girl's hair. "Ah, you shouldn't be so quick to judge, Sakura, Sasuke. There are those in this world that are more powerful than me and yet, younger than you."

The raven haired boy grunted and turned his head, continuing his brooding. But unknown to the others, Sasuke was boiling in his anger, anger that there was someone who, from the sound of the old man's story, was stronger than... _**him**_. The Last Uchiha came to the solution that if he were ever to meet this 'Devil' he would challenge and fight him, if only to test his own abilities.

The grey haired man could only stare sadly at his only male student, thoughts of how tough it must have been for the scion since that day. Those thoughts were immediately put on the back burner when he found a long, serrated chain about to wrap around him and saw him to pieces. Quickly and seamlessly using the Replacement Jutsu without the use of seals, Kakashi hid in a tree above the road and watched as the two assassins' from the puddle began to attack his students.

Deciding now was better than never he summoned one of his nin-dogs and gave it a scroll to take to the Hokage. If the Demon Brother's were the first to attack, than not only were Minato's suspicion's correct, but Kakashi just knew he was going to need some help, expected or otherwise...

**:::::::::  
****The Land of Waves  
**_One Hour before the Demon Brother's Attack  
_**:::::::::**

"Please? I'll do anything for you, anything you want," a blue haired woman begged and pleaded a man who was trying to look like a samurai, though he looked more like a punk with a sword than anything else.

"I'd take that offer, if I wasn't already working for Gatou himself," the man replied, a smug smirk on his tattooed face. "Though, I think I'll still..." the man never finished as his head fell from his shoulders, a fountain of blood spraying from where his neck used to be, a small amount of the red liquid dripping onto the woman's shocked face.

The woman, for her credit, tried her damndest not to scream and succeeded in not doing so as a black sword tip was pointed at her throat. It moved up to her hyperventilating mouth, before becoming a blur of black. It pulled away and was sheathed. The woman reached up and touched her face looking for any sign of damage and to her shock, found that the blood that had splattered on her was gone.

"A master of the blade can choose when his sword will cut and not cut," a slightly gravelly voice spoke a meter and a half before the woman, where a tall blonde man dressed in black samurai-like clothes stood, his sword sheathed on his back. "I'll take your request, miss..."

"Tsunami, my name is Tsunami," the woman finished for the man.

"Naruto," the man spoke again, which elicited a blush from the blue haired woman.

"A-And what would you like in return for your services, I can't offer you much, but I'll do anything to repay this kindness," Tsunami spoke nervously. Though the man was handsome, she really didn't feel up to rendering _that_ kind of service to anyone.

The man didn't even seem to think before he answered. "All that I require is food and board."

Tsunami's eyes widened in an emotion she hadn't felt for awhile... relief. For some reason she ran up and gave the man, who was at least a half a meter taller than her, a hug. "T-Thank you so much."

Naruto's eyes widened at the contact, but he did not move the woman as she cried happily into his cloak. Once she was done, he stared down at her. "Where is your father now?"

The woman wiped her tears away with a smile. "He went to the Leaf to request a team of ninja to protect him as he built his bridge. There is only one road to the Land of Fire from the Wave though there is a secondary road that leads to our home. It's about two and a half kilometers from the main road, you can't miss it."

Nodding, the man was just about to take off, when the woman stopped him. "My father will lead you back to our home. I'll have a room and a meal waiting for you." The man nodded again and in a blur of black and yellow, he was gone.

**:::::::::**  
**The Hidden Leaf Village**  
**:::::::::**

Yuuhi Kurenai had been having a splendid day. First she awoke from a recurring dream of a young, roguish, blonde man who would sweep her off her feet and carry her off into the sunset. She just thought of it as a schoolgirl fantasy of the Fourth, though, strangely enough, the man's face was never visible to her and his words always came out rough.

Then, after her morning routine, she showered and dressed, made herself a small breakfast and left to meet her students of three months at their training grounds. She taught them and allowed them to train by themselves until noon, where they went to a small ramen shop called 'Ichiraku's' for a team lunch.

After the spectacular noodles and one of her students embarrassing himself once again, Team Eight headed to Hokage's Tower. Inside, she found her long time friend Mitarashi Anko receiving a mission from the blonde Hokage himself. The Hokage had waved her over, this being where Kurenai's day began to sour. After dismissing her students and instructing them to keep training by themselves for at least a week, the red eyed brunette found herself along with Anko in the Hokage's Office.

"While, the details I have given you so far are valuable, there is a piece of information that I must inform you of," Minato spoke to the two women as he handed them both a set of photographs. The photos depicted a tall blonde man dressed in black with a very long sword.

Anko, a purple haired Special Jounin, snorted at the picture. "Looks like he's trying to compensate for something, eh?" The woman only received two stern looks as her response. "What? That was funny!"

"Mitarashi," the Hokage spoke strictly, "While you may have a lighter mood on your own time, wasting mine with childish jokes will only leave you suspended without pay, indefinitely. Do I make myself clear?"

The purple haired jounin looked shocked then downcast. "Yeah, Boss, crystal."

Minato nodded as the woman grew a more somber attitude. "Good. Now, that man there has a reputation and two titles which concern me greatly. He has already caused two incidents which have had a great impact thus far. I have already explained to Kakashi the danger this man presents and now I am telling you. If you see this man, you will not engage him in open conflict."

"Sir," Kurenai began, "Is this why you are sending me?"

"Yes, Yuuhi, it is exactly why. You're Genjutsu skills will be able to throw him off and set him up for capture. But that is only your secondary objective, so don't try anything if you think you might be killed," the Hokage explained, his concern for his daughter outweighing his concern of the killer.

"Um, so just what are his titles, Lord Hokage?" Anko asked, her curiosity of the swordsman piqued.

The blonde man seemed sullen at this. "His titles are the Thousand Man Slayer and the Devil of the Flood."

The two women seemed shocked by this revelation. The Hokage looked at both of them for a moment. "That's it, you're both dismissed. Kakashi said that he'll wait for you at the border for three hours and then he'll move on. And remember, be careful."

Minato watched as the two Jounin left and stared at both the pictures of his family and the photos of the masked killer. _'I won't lose Natsuko, like I did Naruto. I won't put Kushina through that again. This, I swear.'_

**:::::::::  
****Outside the Hidden Leaf Village**_  
Ten Minutes after the Mission Briefing_  
**:::::::::**

"So, Kurenai, you think this guy is all show, no real bite to his bark?" Anko asked as she and Kurenai sped down the same trail Team Seven had taken. Without her team, the two women were able to move much faster without the genin weighing them down.

Kurenai hesitated for a moment, mulling over all the information she had gathered about the blonde swordsman. "I can't answer that objectively, Anko. We have no clue who this man is or what he's after. All we do have is a rumor that he killed thousands of people. If we knew something more, I could answer that question."

The purple haired woman grinned. "Good old Kurenai, giving the honest, academic answer. If I had wanted that, I'd have asked one of those nerdy academy teachers."

This only earned the woman a glare that was made more terrifying by the brunette's eyes. "I'll give you my opinion if I ever see this man in action. But from the photos, I believe that the Hokage has a right to worry, after all, his daughter's life could be on the line. If I had a child, I would be worried too."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that, but you shouldn't think in the long-term, though. If you do, you'll end up an old hag before you reach thirty," Anko responded cheekily.

Kurenai smirked at her friend's attitude. It was always good having Anko around to lighten the tension during a high-stress mission.

**:::::::::**

Forty minutes later, the two met up with Team Seven and their client, who brought them up to speed on what happened so far. Twenty minutes later, the group of seven plus the boatman who was kind enough to bring them into the country, were staring at a rather large bridge. Tazuna was proud as the three children looked at the work of cement and masonry with various expressions of awe.

"Told you I was a Super Bridge Builder," the elder man had said.

Making shore, the old builder thanked the boatman by his name for his troubles and the group made their way into a hazy forest.

Kakashi, one who always seemed to know everything, signaled to his fellow jounin. 'I have a bad feeling about this. Keep your guards up.' The two women nodded curtly to the man, showing they understood.

Not five minutes later, Natsuko, believing she was one-upping the Uchiha, who had called her a scaredy cat, threw a kunai into the bushes. Sakura admonished the blonde haired girl, especially after she found that Natsuko had almost pinned a white rabbit to a tree, the coddling like a child.

The jounin however, all had the same thought. Trouble.

A sadistic laugh sounded through the misty forest, scaring the genin and the old man. Hearing a distinct 'whirring' sound, Kakashi yelled, "Get down!" He tackled Tazuna to the ground as the two other jounin did the same for the genin.

Barely half a second later, a large sword embedded itself into a nearby tree, the sadistic laugh sounding once more. "Well, now, I guess I should feel honored." Someone dropped down from the trees onto sword and looked back at the Leaf Ninja. "Three Jounin? For me? And your all little Leaves? I do feel honored."

Kakashi stared at the large, tanned man before his eye opened in recognition. "You're Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist."

'Zabuza' turned and looked at the man who addressed him. "Ah, so you recognize me and by the famous Copy Cat himself. I am honored, Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan."

Sasuke felt his eyes widen at the mention of his clans infamous Doujutsu. _'But,'_ he thought to himself, _'All the Uchiha are dead. How would Kakashi-sensei have my Bloodline Limit?'_

"I see, so you know about that?" Kakashi questioned. He lifted a hand to his headband which covered his left eye. "Anko, Kurenai, help if feel I'm in trouble." The two women nodded and flickered into the trees. "Sasuke, Sakura, Natsuko, Triangle Formation around Tazuna, now!" The three genin showed no sign of hesitation as they obeyed their teacher's orders.

"Hehehehehahahahahahaa! Like a bunch of kiddies are going to stop me!" With that, Zabuza grabbed his large sword and flickered away. Half a minute later, the mist became thicker and heavier, limiting sight to a degree.

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector off his eye, revealing a red eye with three tomoe markings slowly spinning around the pupil and formed the Ram seal with his hands. Gathering his chakra, the jounin forced it from his body expelled a decent amount of the mist. Looking back, he found his shaking where they stood, terrified as a strong amount focused of murderous intent made itself known to the greenhorns.

"Don't worry you three, I'll protect you with my life," Kakashi said, trying to soothe their fear. It worked, for the moment...

"I don't think you'll be fast enough!" The Demon of the Mist declared as he appeared between the genin and their client, his sword held with one hand as the other held a one handed seal in front of his face.

The man was just about to slice the four to chunks before he was stabbed in the chest with a kunai knife.

Kakashi, for a moment, thought he had hit his mark, but, he didn't expect however for the Zabuza in front of him to melt into water. Turning as the clone splashed to the ground harmlessly, the jounin was suddenly split in two as the real Zabuza appeared. The grey haired man's student felt fear once more as Zabuza laughed.

Until he noticed what he had just cut through had turned to water. "What the..."

"Too late," Kakashi announced from behind Zabuza, another kunai knife at his throat. "Give up, and I'll make your death quick."

Zabuza chuckled. "I'll die... after you!" He suddenly turned into water.

Kakashi, on pure instinct, quickly crouched down, dodging as Zabuza's giant sword passed over his head. The large zanbatou slashed into the ground as Zabuza used his momentum to turn and mule kick Kakashi's crossed arms.

Dashing toward the lake the Leaf Ninja just splashed into, the large man stopped suddenly. "Makibishi spikes? How pathetic." He turned and back flipped into the lake.

Kakashi's head shot above the water's surface as he felt danger leave. "This water feels thick."

There was a sudden blur of movement behind him as Zabuza took advantage of the ninja's distraction. "Water Prison Jutsu!"

'_Oh... crap,'_ Kakashi thought solemnly as he was trapped in a sphere of water.

Zabuza laughed at the shinobi trapped in his prison. "Well... I guess I should deal with the two bimbos and your little greenhorns, too." Making a one handed seal, three water clones formed from the lake and moved menacingly toward the genin. Kurenai and Anko blurred in front of them, a pair kunai drawn each.

One of the Zabuza's chuckled. "Well, look at this. I guess I'll get to enjoy myself after all."

"Yuuhi Kurenai, also known as Kurenai the Phantom," another of the Zabuza's listed, "and Mitarashi Anko, the Snake Mistress of the Leaf. I don't think either of you will be much of a match for me."

The last Zabuza snorted. "Let's just kill them and the target."

The three clones surged forward, coming to a halt as two of the threeexploded in a turbulent shower of water. The third, distracted by the fate ofhis brethren, was caught unaware. A tall blond man forcefully palmed his face, lifting his body off the ground, in an amazing display of strength. With his final moments among the living, the clone spat at his would-be exutioner.

Located at his back, an impressive sword sat, his black garbs swaying hypnotically with the wind.

"I don't think so," he hissed. His hands still clutching around the clones face. With a strong grip, and a cruel sneer, he brought his face towards his.

Soon after, the clone joined his brethren in a brutal death.

Looking up, the masked man's red eyes stared into Zabuza's hazel. He paid no heed to the gasps and looks of surprise each person in the clearing elicited. He was here for one thing. "You're next."

The Devil of the Flood has come...

* * *

**Author's Note:** You being down here means you're done, right? Well, yay! I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in this chapter, as we didn't see nearly enough of Naruto, and we didn't see how Anko and Kurenai would've freed Kakashi and/or defeat Zabuza. To tell you the truth, I did have a plan for them on doing just that. Also, and may dislike me for this, but I could have put the whole of the wave arc in this single chapter, but really, I feel that would just be too long and I kind of like the cliffhanger there.

Anyways, you know the drill, review, or don't, I really don't care, though I would like to hear your opinion on this. Thanks!

And before you move on to do whatever it is you do, I'd like to ask (as I don't think this would fit in a poll) if someone can tell me an energy, like chi, kinetic energy, reiatsu, etc., that would fit with Naruto. If you can, I'd like a brief description of it or a summary or something. It'd help me alot. Oh, and please don't give me the obvious answer of chakra, cause I don't think it would really work here. Thanks in advance!

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	4. Blade of the Maelstrom

**Disclaimer:** Own _Naruto_? I don't believe I do. Not that I want to. It'd just be a waste of my awesome time. Also, I don't own _Bleach_, which as you will see in the chapter, I use some terms from, though I try to stay at least a little bit original. Ha! Yeah right! Orginality? That's a good one.

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I am aware that this is a little late coming out, but, life gets distracting sometimes. Anyway, I read the chapter I had written out before this one, and hated it. So today I rewrote it. And I still don't like how it turned out. Whatever, my opinion doesn't matter, though yours do. Real quick I need to point out some things.

_One:_ For the energy question I asked, I decided to use Reiryoku and Reiatsu. It actually kind of fit here and with what I'm going to do. I want to thank everyone who gave their suggestions and apologize to those who didn't have their suggestion used.

_Two:_ Yes, this chapter is short, though it explains somethings and leaves others open. And yes, I am aware that I left this chapter on a major cliffhanger. The Wave Arc should finish next chapter and chapter six should be the reunion between Naruto and his parents, but it won't be a happy one, you can count on that.

_Three:_ I began to use Japanese honorifics in this chapter, even though I didn't use them in the first three chapters. I don't think I'll go change that though. Also, it sounds more badass when the techniques are done in romaji. I didn't want to, but I did anyways... so, yeah!

_Four:_ About the pairing, since I had a couple reviewers asking about it, I am partial to Naruto/Kurenai, one of my favorites really. But, this fic isn't about romance so much as it is about drama, suspense, and action. I will say this though, you can expect _some_ romance, but not a lot, as, if it's done wrong, can ruin the whole story.

Anyway, I'm done talking for now. Read the chapter and everything follows or not, and review, or not, though I hope you do, I like hearing from you guys. Now read!

**

* * *

The Devil's Blade**  
_An Epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By** _RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

**Kill.** She speaks to me. I can hear her more clearly now. **Kill for me and I will love you.** Her voice grows stronger every day. It's like she woke up inside me and is seeing everything I do. Sometimes she begs me to kill, to slaughter... and I do. I can't ignore her. She knows who I am and I must do. It's as if she's trying to strengthen me, trying to prepare for something. I don't know what and cannot fathom why such a beautiful voice would talk to one such as I, much less try to help me stain my soul more.

But it matters not. As long as that angelic voice is with me and I have _her_, I am content. _She_ eases my burdened soul and sings me into dreams of the sun. Though, I wonder, does _**she**_ care about like my Goddess does? Does she truly love me, like _she_ does? Whatever, like before, as long as their within my soul, I am content. Though, _**her**_ voice is always growing stronger.

_**Kill for me and I will love you forever, my container...**_

**:::::::::  
****Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::  
**Chapter 4  
_Blade of the Maelstrom_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto stood at the edge of the lake, his red eyes boring into Zabuza. Though the man hid most of his face in bandages, the blonde could still see the man's eyes. He watched as recognition and fear entered the man's ocular organs, setting in to a resolution to fight. Though he concentrated on the other man, he still heard the gasps and could feel as the two kunoichi behind him began to build their energy up, ready to attack. He didn't know if it was him they were going to assault or Zabuza, he didn't really care, though.

Raising his hand to the hilt of his nodachi, Naruto spoke to the women. "Kunoichi of the Leaf, you can relax if you want, I'm on your side," he drew his sword, the blade's edge gleaming as it was withdrawn from its sheath, "...For now." And in a barely noticeable blur, he was gone.

Zabuza's eyes widened when the manslayer disappeared, his eyes moving from right to left as he searched for the blonde man. Hearing a soft splash from his left, the man quickly drew his huge zanbatou and brought it crashing down toward the left side. He grinned beneath his bandages as the sharp ringing sound of steel hitting steel met his ears. He looked to find that he had blocked the samurai's initial strike.

Naruto nodded at the sight. "I'm impressed. You must have good reflexes to know where I would attack from. But will you be able to keep up this guard, or will you fall?" The blonde blurred away again, surprising Zabuza as his sword fell and sliced into the water without an object to hold it in place.

The black haired man hefted his sword onto his shoulder with a snarl and looked to his right to make sure that he still had his hand in the water prison that held Kakashi. He looked around again and tried to feel for the blonde bastard's chakra signature. "Looks like your savior ran away little Kono-ugh!"

He quickly withdrew his hand from the sphere of water as he tried to dodge Naruto's downward slash aimed at his hand, but was surprised as the blonde feinted, spun, his blade cutting through the water's surface, and planted his left foot into Zabuza's gut, launching the man back. Quickly finishing his spin, Naruto brought his sword up and slashed down, a blade made of water blasting from the tip of his nodachi.

Zabuza, despite his shock, managed to bring his sword up to block the blade of water, though he was blasted back even further by the attack. The man breathed heavily, glaring heatedly at the blonde swordsman. Then he started laughing as he switched sword hands. "I guess the rumors could be true. You really are the Oomizu no Majin, aren't you?"

The blonde closed his eyes and sighed softly. "Yeah, I am."

This proclamation drew a couple gasps and some curious and angry glares. Tazuna was one of the one's who glared angrily at the younger man. "You! You bastard! You killed the Wave's protectors! Gatou wouldn't have taken control if it wasn't for you! The Land of Waves wouldn't be like it is if it wasn't for you!"

"Don't you think I know that, old man?" Naruto spoke softly, those his words were heard by everyone. "I have my reasons for what I did."

Zabuza laughed at that as he set his zanbatou upon his shoulder. "You had a reason for wiping out a whole nation of samurai in one night? Why would a killer like you need a reason to start slashing people to bits? Don't you enjoy it? The terror in your victim's eyes right before you decapitate them... it's exhilarating."

A soft chuckle escaped Naruto's throat as he stared at the man. "Obviously, though we are both killers, you and I have a different reason to kill. You enjoy killing others while I kill out of necessity, so that I may still exist in this world and if fools like you want to throw their lives away, then so be it. I will all to gladly stoke my own flame of life by stomping out your own." With that, Naruto dashed at Zabuza, his intent to kill clearly seen in his eyes.

**:::::::::**

Kakashi panted slightly as he trudged up to the other jounin, his Sharingan eye still out. He looked back at the fight, watching as the two men seemingly flew at the other as their swords clashed again and again, though it seemed that Zabuza was beginning to tire. With his Sharingan, he could see Zabuza's chakra, the energy being molded primarily in his legs and arms, probably to help with the strain of blocking the Devil's rapid but fierce attacks.

Focusing on the blond however was a completely different story. Though he could see and read the man's every movement, there was no information coming to him, which meant he couldn't copy the blonde's sword style. But that wasn't the biggest shocker to him. No, what was completely shocking was that the man had absolutely no chakra output or any chakra movement whatsoever. That couldn't be right, nothing could live without chakra. Unfortunately, he had never heard of the energy true samurai used and had just figured that they used chakra like ninja.

"Whoa!" Kakashi was shocked from his reverie by Anko who watched intently as the black garbed blonde blasted more blades of water at Zabuza, who dodged and bum rushed the samurai. "He looks like a taller, darker, hotter Fourth. You think his face looks as handsome as the Hokage's, eh Kurenai-chan?"

The woman in question blushed slightly but composed herself. "Get your mind out of the gutter Anko. We have a mission, remember? And it isn't to sleep with the first man that turns you on."

Anko pouted like a kicked puppy. "Aw, you're no fun."

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" Natsuko asked hesitantly, both afraid and excited as she watched the two swordsmen battle. "Did you know that blonde guy was going to be here?"

Kakashi nodded as he covered his left eye. "Yes, I did. The Hokage warned me that he may or may not show up. I was actually hoping that he wouldn't though. But, we should just be thankful he's on our side, even if it's just for the moment."

Natsuko nodded, happily accepting the grey haired man's answer. An ally was an ally, no matter who it was, or that was what her father had always taught her. But one of the genin wasn't satisfied with the answer as Sasuke spoke up. "Why would the Hokage care about a lowly samurai, their beneath us ninja, aren't they?"

The three jounin looked at the boy oddly, wondering if he'd been watching the fight at all. Kurenai decided to educate the boy. "You can't judge a book by its cover, Sasuke. You need to look underneath the underneath. For all we know about him, which is very little, he could be the strongest being on the face of the earth. But since we know so little, we have to adapt and learn from what we see of him. And from the looks of it, he could take each and every one of us on, including Zabuza, and still kill us all."

Nodding, Kakashi decided to add something to Kurenai's statement as he watched the swordsmen lock blades once more. "If I judged every opponent I'd ever fought at face value, I'd be dead right now. There isn't much known about samurai, just that they hold similar beliefs to us, though they hold honor and the blade in much higher regards than we ninja do."

"What do you mean by that Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura finally spoke up, her mystified expression from watching the battle turned to one of puzzlement.

"It's simple: We ninja see swords and other weapons as tools to be used to get the job done. But samurai are different. They hold their weapon of choice in the highest regard, treating it as if it had a soul of its own. Daimyo see them as true soldiers while they see us as just the tools we use," Kakashi answered, his right eye 'smiling' at his genin.

The two girls accepted the answer while Sasuke just seethed. _'I will challenge and defeat him to prove I am the strongest. Then, I _will_ kill __**Him**__.'_

**:::::::::**

Zabuza breathed in hard as he was pushed back by Naruto, who just stood there, staring at the shinobi. Unseen, Zabuza had a large grin plastered on his face. This was not only his toughest battle to date, but it was his most exciting as well. And the thought of actually killing the blonde devil, he'd make history.

Breaking from his thoughts, Zabuza quickly dodged another blade of water by jumping to the side. Placing his zanbatou on his back, the ninja exclaimed. "Playtimes over litte devil!" And began to swiftly form a long chain of hand seals. Naruto just watched the man curiously, as he had only seen one or two ninjutsu in his lifetime.

Zabuza landed on the last seal, Bird, and called out his attack as multiple pillars of water began to rise into the air around him. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" The water pillars began form and take the shape of five dragons made completely out of water. The dragons gave a pseudo roar and blasted towards Naruto, who didn't seem very impressed.

Two of the dragons went towards the blonde's flanks as the other three began to spiral around each other and formed into a bigger dragon. Before all three crashed into him, Naruto let out an angry sigh. "I hate dragons."

The ex-Mist ninja laughed manically as the water dragons exploded into a torrent of water upon hitting the Devil. "Hahahahahahahahaha! He wasn't ever a match for a...!" Zabuza grew silent at the spectacle before him.

Standing where he had been the whole time was Naruto, his sword held in a one handed hanging guard. The excess water was caught in the cyclonic windstorm spiraling around the blonde. "Tensho-ryuu! Godai no Jutsu! Fuuton: Teikiatsu no Tate!" With the whispered words, the cyclone settled, showing that the blonde wasn't even wet, much less damaged.

Every observer had the same thought. _'He was able to stop the technique!'_

Zabuza shook his head, trying desperately to reassure himself that it wasn't true. Snarling, he yelled, "Y-You decimated my jutsu! I don't know how your samurai arts work, but my next technique is going to destroy you!" He then began to rapidly form hand seals again.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He brought his blade down in front of his body, the edge parallel to the water's surface. "You're too slow."

Zabuza was caught off guard by the statement. Looking at the blonde, he felt his eyes widen on their own. Both wind and water were spiraling in a circle around a sphere of whirling wind that sat at the tip of the blonde's nodachi. "What is that? Is that a jutsu?"

The blonde shook his head. "This is one of the more mediocre techniques learned in my sword style, Tensho-ryuu. Now, are you ready to meet the king of hell?"

Zabuza chuckled as he finished the chain of hand seals, water beginning to spiral before him. "After you."

Naruto was impassive as a red light was emitted from his fully charged attack. "So be it. Tensho-ryuu! Godai no Jutsu! Fuuton: Senpuudou!"

A spiraling cyclone of wind blasted from the sphere, aimed solely at Zabuza, whose technique dissipated as his concentration was lost. The tunnel-like twister impacted with the missing-nin, who had been rooted to his spot by a strange pressure bearing down on his body, and blasted him through several trees, small blades of wind cutting into the black haired man's body.

The man finally crashed into the fourth tree as the wind's force turned into a gentle breeze. Zabuza looked to find the Devil of the Flood already standing over him, the small, shallow cuts all along his body beginning to bleed. Zabuza laughed to himself, blood staining his bandages. "You really are him, huh? It was an honor to fight a true swordsman like you."

Naruto just stared at the man for a moment. "In two days we'll talk again, Demon of the Mist. Until then, try not to strain yourself too much. And you _should_ feel honored: you're the second person who I have spared."

Eyes widened, Zabuza was about to ask what the blonde was talking about when two objects pierced the side of his neck, making him topple over to his left, 'dead'.

A teenage ninja wearing baggy clothing and a Mist Hunter Ninja mask landed next to the corpse from a body flicker just as the Konoha ninja made their way over to the newly made clearing. "Thank you samurai-san for your assisstance, I couldn't have killed him if hadn't been for your technique."

Naruto just looked at ninja before turning. "Whatever, just go before the others come."

The hunter-nin seemed confused before nodding in understanding as the Leaf ninja showed up. "Thank you." And then he was gone in a swirl of mist and leaves.

"Excuse me, Majin-san? Did you let that Kiri ninja take the body?" Kurenai asked as she spotted the blonde.

Red eyes stared into Kurenai's own intently and the woman felt as if the man was staring straight into her soul as he addressed her. "Yes I did kunoichi-san. If I did something wrong, I apologize. I don't know how you ninja handle deaths, but we samurai usually try to preserve the body so their soul can be sent to Yomi."

Kakashi rubbed his head as he looked between the two sets of red eyes. "Um, we usually burn the body upon death, Majin-san, for security issues."

"Naruto," the blonde stated, shocking the Leaf ninja. "My name is Naruto, not Majin."

Kakashi felt his eye widen at the name. _'Could it be? He has blonde hair like sensei. I'll try find out later.'_

Tazuna wasn't as shocked as he was angry. "Why are you here, monster?"

"Your daughter sent me, old man," Naruto answered. "She said she'd do anything if I protected you and your family."

"Why you despicable little freak!" Tazuna shouted, surprising the others with his anger. "And what did you ask for, huh? Her body, so you could use her than kill us all?" The old man suddenly found the blonde's blade at his throat.

Naruto's eyes were as hard as stone as he peered at the elderly man. "I would rather kill myself than take advantage of a woman in a state of need and helplessness." He lifted his sword and sheathed it. "All I asked for was shelter and food, but you have final say, since it is your life on the line. If your wish is for me to leave, then I shall."

The masked man turned and began to walk away. Tazuna, though still angry and bitter at the blonde's past transgressions, decided to see reason. "I-If you need a place to stay, you're welcome in my home, as long as you are going to be protecting me." He turned to the ninja. "If I have him protecting me, I don't think I'll need your services anymore."

Before Kakashi could deny the request to abort, Anko spoke up. "Nope, not happening, ojisan. We've come too far to turn back now."

Kakashi nodded. "Anko is right Tazuna-san, we've come too far. Despite that though, you are still going to have to pay Konoha for a A-Ranked mission upon completion."

"A-Rank?" Tazuna and Kakashi's genin yelled at the same time, well Sakura and Natsuko at least did while Sasuke kept staring angrily at the masked man who only stared back impassively. "I can't pay for an A-Rank mission!" Tazuna finished heatedly.

A hand was placed on the bridge builder's shoulder. The man looked to find Naruto there. "You can keep your money, Tazuna-san, I'll pay them for you."

Tazuna's eyes widened. "Y-You? What do you gain from paying them?"

"Nothing," Naruto stated simply. He looked up to the sky for a moment. "We should leave for your home, Tazuna-san. It'll be dark soon."

The old bridge builder nodded his head. "Yeah, right. Come on, all of you, my house is only a kilometer or so from here."

The Leaf ninja nodded and followed after the man, Naruto taking up the rear. Outwardly he was disinterested in anything, though inwardly, he was on full alert as he felt a foreign energy signature he had only felt once before. _'I don't know who you are, but I know who you're working for. And that gives more than enough reason to kill you.'_

**:::::::::  
****Tazuna's Home**_  
Three Hours Later_  
**:::::::::**

Later that evening, Kakashi announced to his genin that he was going begin their training the next day as they sat at a dining table, waiting for Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, the one who had hired Naruto, to finish cooking supper, which the woman was all too pleased to do.

Once their meals were placed in front of them, the ten, including Inari, Tsunami's son, began to eat. Noticing that Naruto wasn't eating, Tsunami spoke up. "Naruto-san, are you not hungry?"

Her statement was answered by the blonde's stomach growling, at which he glared and whispered 'traitor'. He sighed. "No, Tsunami-san, I am, and this looks good, but I don't really like taking off my mask in front of others."

Anko snorted up some tea at the man's statement. "You can take on and defeat a trained killer, but you're afraid to take off your mask? That has to be the lamest fear ever." The woman found two pairs of eyes glaring at her. "What?"

"Be nice, Anko," Kurenai said as she watched her friend clean herself up. "You should remember to do unto others as you would have them do unto you." She turned to the blonde man. "I'm sure Anko-chan didn't mean any disrespect to you Naruto-san."

"It's alright, I know what she meant, Yuuhi-san," Naruto spoke quietly. He reached up to his mask and began to untie the bandages that kept it in place. The group watched with bated breath as Naruto grasped the mask and began to remove it. They all exhaled as he set his mask down on the table.

'_It is him! It's sensei's son, Uzumaki Naruto!'_ Kakashi thought, his one eye showing his utter shock.

"Damn! He is hotter than the Hokage!" Anko exclaimed, giggling like a schoolgirl on crack. Kurenai couldn't help but agree with her friend, though her enthusiasm was in her blush that almost matched her eyes.

Sakura and Natsuko both thought he was rather handsome, though both kept it to themselves. Sakura didn't say anything because it would be traitorous to her Sasuke-kun and Natsuko didn't because the man looked a lot like her father.

"You're very handsome Naruto-san," Tsunami told the young man with a smile. Inari, gave her a dark, dirty look before excusing himself and running out of the room.

Tazuna just chortled drunkenly while Sasuke brooded.

Naruto's hair slightly shadowed his half-lidded red eyes and complemented his tanned skin. His face was slightly angular with no trace of fat at all and seemed aristocratic, though the three whisker-like scars on each cheek made the man look slightly animalistic.

"Naruto-san," Kakashi asked, "just how old are you?"

The blonde looked at the jounin, gazing intently into his singular eye. "I will turn twenty this October, Hatake-san, why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just curious, that's all," Kakashi said, waving his hand. Inwardly though, he was in a panic. _'What should I do? Should I ask his surname? Should I tell Natsuko that this is her brother? Should I send word to Minato-sensei and tell him I found his son? Nah, I'd rather see the look on his face, though he'll probably be sadder than anything to learn his son is a coldblooded killer.'_

**:::::::::**

An hour later found Naruto sitting at the dining table with the three jounin, his mask still off and his sword resting on his left shoulder and chest. His eyes were closed as he meditated, though he could still hear the three discussing something about him quietly. Though it didn't seem like he was paying attention, he was actually listening intently.

"He what?" Anko quietly exclaimed. "How could he still be living if he doesn't have any chakra? I thought chakra was a human's life energy or something."

"I don't know Anko, it's hard to explain," Kakashi whispered.

Anko gained a miffed expression. "Well, you could damn well try."

The grey haired man sighed. "When I looked at him with the Sharingan, I couldn't copy any of his movements even though I could read and see what he was doing as clear as day. And when I tried to look for chakra movement, there just wasn't any there. Absolutely no chakra at all, though, there seemed to be a black cloud-like substance. It could be that his chakra is hidden and the cloud was a seal keeping me from copying him. Sensei does it to me all the time."

"Perhaps we should ask a Hyuuga to look at him, or we could try asking him," Kurenai suggested, looking towards the blonde.

"You should have done that before you started talking about me. You never know, I might've told you something," Naruto spoke, though he still hadn't opened his eyes or even faced them.

Kakashi raised his only eyebrow. "Okay, Naruto-san, would you care to explain to us why you don't seem to have any chakra and the Sharingan can't copy any of your techniques."

Naruto stared at the man. "You ninja are foolish and ignorant. You think chakra is the only energy in the world and that you are the only ones capable of fighting because you know how to use it."

Anko pouted in thought. "So, what kind of energy do you use, Naruto-kun?"

The man stared at her, confused as to when they were on such familiar terms. He quickly composed himself and began to explain his power. "I, like all the true samurai before me, use a power called 'reiryoku', or Spirit Power. I can use this power in a different number of ways like walking on water or manipulating the elements. I can also use it to increase my speed in a technique called Sokudo."

"How did you acquire this energy and lose your chakra?" Kurenai asked, puzzled.

Sighing, Naruto continued. "Through a process called Henkan, a human's chakra, an energy we're all born with, is converted to reiryoku. The Henkan is a painful process as it rips the body's chakra coils apart and destroys all remnants of it. It takes three years and once complete, the body and soul will expel any remaining chakra as 'reiatsu', or Spirit Pressure, the physical form of one's reiryoku."

A light bulb seemed to go on over Kurenai's head. "So that was what that weight I felt when you used that one technique was then."

Naruto stared into her eyes once more. "You are spiritually aware then."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that Naruto-san?" Kakashi asked, obviously confused.

"Every being, spiritually aware or not, can see and feel a samurai's reiatsu if he uses enough reiryoku. But I was only using a miniscule amount in my Senpuudou to where no one should've felt my reiatsu except Zabuza, who I was focusing my reiatsu on to keep him still for a moment," Naruto explained. He looked to Kurenai again. "If you are spiritually aware, then that means you have the potential to go through Henkan and gain reiryoku. But I doubt you would want to, though. You'd lose all your chakra based techniques and would have to learn how to use a weapon instead."

Naruto sighed and stood, picking up his mask as he did so. "I don't feel like explaining anything else. I'm going to go to bed now. Sleep well, Leaf Jounin." And then he left, walking up the stairs towards his room.

A few minutes later Kurenai and Anko turned towards Kakashi. "What do you make of him, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked.

The man rubbed his masked chin in thought. "I don't really know at the moment, though I say we should keep an eye on him."

**:::::::::  
****Time/Place Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

A short, pudgy, pig-like dressed in a business suit sat in an expensive throne like chair, nursing a broken arm. "Zabuza's bitch will pay, I'll make sure of it," the man, Gatou, snarled. His sunglasses were thrown haphazardly on his expensive mahogany desk, right next to a picture of a man dressed in black wielding a long sword.

Just as Gatou began thinking of all the nasty things he was going to do the teenaged girl, his office doors opened. A man dressed in red and white walked through, his dark eyes locked on the small, rich man. "You're Gatou, right?"

"What of it?" Gatou snapped, clearly angry.

"You would do well to watch your tone with me," the stranger warned. Though his head and face were hidden from view, Gatou could literally feel the man's anger in the air. Plus, the giant sword on the man's back scared him a little.

Gatou gulped down his fear and eyed the man. "What do you want? Unless you're here to kill someone for me, I don't have any time for an unannounced drop-in."

The man's aura seemed to lighten. "Actually, I am here to kill someone, but not for you. My master, a god to you _humans_, wishes for a blonde man dressed in black to be killed, so the man cannot interfere with his plans, plus I have own vendetta against him. I heard he was last seen here in the Land of Waves, and I thought you, being the tyrant you are, would know if this was true. So, do you?"

A cruel smirk made its way onto Gatou's face. "Yes, he has been sighted. He's staying with a man named Tazuna and protecting the man alongside a bunch of Konoha ninja. But, don't go and kill him yet."

"Oh, you have a plan then?" The man asked, seemingly excited.

Gatou chuckled almost manically. "Why yes, of course I do, I am a tyrant, after all. But before I tell you it, I want to know your name."

The stranger's aura became palpable to Gatou, who found his breathing to become hard and painful. A blood red glow shone from the stranger as his clothes were ruffled in a supernatural wind. "Me? I... am Genjitsu Akihiro, the Glorious Prince of the Sun..."

* * *

**Translation:** Henkan - Conversion. In this fiction, Henkan, or Conversion, is the process samurai go through to convert their chakra to reiryoku. The process takes three years to complete and is extremely painful.

**:::::::::**

**Techniques:** (Been awhile since I've done this, hasn't it?)

**Name:**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!)  
**Type:** B-Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Momochi Zabuza (Known)  
**Description:** This technique creates a giant dragon made of water, which is then sent flying to crush the opponent. Drawbacks are that the technique must be used in or near a large body of water and the user must complete a chain of 42 hand seals to use, the most hand seals used for a singular jutsu.

**Name:** Tensho-ryuu! Godai no Jutsu! Fuuton: Teikiatsu no Tate! (Piercing Heaven Style! Art of the Five Elements! Wind Release: Cyclone Shield!)  
**Type:** C-Rank, Defensive  
**User(s**): Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description:** This technique, used within the unique and ancient sword style Tensho-ryuu, creates a cyclone of wind around the user, defending against most attacks, though susceptible to fire techniques unless used in conjunction with another fire technique or used on or with water. The only known user is Uzumaki Naruto, the last practitioner of the Piercing Heaven sword style.

**Name:** Tensho-ryuu! Godai no Jutsu! Fuuton: Senpuudou! (Piercing Heaven Style! Art of the Five Elements! Wind Release: Whirlwind Tunnel!)  
**Type**: B-Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s**): Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description**: This technique, used within the unique and ancient sword style Tensho-ryuu, creates a spiraling circle of wind and any caught within around a sphere of air and reiatsu, which rest on the tip of the users blade. Once fully charged, the users blasts a tunnel of small, spiraling blades at the target. The technique cannot change direction once used and cannot be stopped until the user wishes. Use of fire techniques against the attack is highly advised, as it will only make the attack more dangerous. The technique can only be fired from the tip of a blade. The now only known user is Uzumaki Naruto, the last practitioner of the Piercing Heaven sword style.

**Name:** Sokudo (Speed)  
**Type:** D-Rank, Supplementary  
**User(s):** Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Desription:** This techinique allows the user to move at accelerated speeds. All samurai learn this technique upon the completion of the Henkan. Uzumaki Naruto, the Devil of the Flood, has increased his ability to use Sokudo to where he can effortlessly move at high subsonic speeds.

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** You done reading all that? Good! I'll make this last part quick. I'm sorry, again, I got this out late, I lost track of time. Anyway, something big is about to go down, obviously. Like I said, next chapter _should_ finish the Wave story arc and the Reunion and Chuunin Exam arcs should begin in the sixth chapter. And now a couple more things.

_One:_ I should of said this in the beginning A/N, but I didn't. When _she_ is in italics, Naruto is referring to his sword, which will be named later in the fic. When **_she_** is in bold italics, Naruto is referring, to... well... you should have guessed it already. And if you haven't, I'm not going to tell you.

_Two:_ I should have said this in Chapter 1. Naruto's clothes are almost exactly like Ichigo's Bankai form from _Bleach_, but you had probably guessed that already. The only difference is that Naruto's obi is red, where as Ichigo's is white. Hope that clears up some confusion.

_Three:_ The ages of the characters in this fic are obviously going to be different than canon, so I'll list all the ages of known characters as of chapter three, which started in canon:

Naruto: 19 (About 7-8 years older than canon)  
Minato: 39 (This is guessed at)  
Kakashi: 26  
Kurenai: 24 (Is three years younger than canon)  
Anko: 23  
Natsuko: 11-12 (Same as canon Naruto)  
Sasuke: 13  
Sakura: 12-13  
Akihiro (OC): 29

That's it I'm out of here.

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	5. Isolated Catastrophe

**Disclaimer:** Don't panic, Pablo, it ain't mine. Honestly, I have no idea why I just said that, but, whatever. I did the disclaimer, so I won't bore you anymore with this. And remember, my ass is asleep.

**Author's Note:** No, really, my ass is asleep. But enough about my ass. This, like Chapter 4, was rewritten in only two days. I deleted most of the future chapters I had written, 'cause, well... they sucked. I'm more of a 'In the Moment' type of writer than a 'Plan Ahead' type. It just makes more sense to me anyway. Now, a couple of things for your consideration:

_One:_ The little prologue at the beginning is kind of the history behind Naruto's sword style and the branch of his elemental techniques. You will see more element attacks in future chapters, this I have planned.

_Two:_ Akihiro's sword, once you get to that part anyways, looks like a greatsword from the video game _Fable_. No, this story will have nothing to do with the game. By the way, I personally think that even though _Fable II_ was cool, it could've been one of the most epic games ever, like _Mass Effect 2_ and _Assassin's Creed 2_ are going to be, both of which I have preordered. Yayz!

But enough about me and gaming interests, cause I know you don't really give a crap. Meanies! Whatever, read the fic, tell me what you think. I'm not like those other authors who try to pressure you into reviewing. You either do or you don't, and whatever you choose, I don't really care. As long as you liked it, we're cool. Now I'm going to go cry in a corner until the end of the fic.

**

* * *

The Devil's Blade**_  
An Epic reimagining of the Demon's Blade_

**By**_ RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

The Tensho-ryuu, the sword style used by the Devil of the Flood, is unique and ancient, dating back to a time where ninja were but a small minority compared to samurai. The Piercing Heaven Style is said to have been created by the legendary swordsmith Sengo Muramasa when he made a powerful nodachi for the Daimyo, Oda Nobunaga.

Though not much is known about the style, there are those that have witnessed it in use that can attest to the destructive power that the user wields with it, that user at the moment being one Uzumaki Naruto, the Thousand Man Slayer. Some say that the style and the sword are both inherently evil, corrupting the swordsman that wields it until his soul is darkened to the point of no return and the sword and style must be truly attained by killing the previous wielder. Whether this is true or not has yet to be proven.

One truth that is known about the style and the Muramasa nodachi is that Uzumaki Naruto is the ninth generation swordsman that has used the style, the eighth being the teacher of the killer, Shiokaze Akira, who was killed by his own student. Shiokaze Akira was not as renown as his student is, though in the samurai community, which has dwindled to near extinction during the rise of the Oomizu no Majin, as the Akekaze no Kami, the God of the Bloody Wind. It would seem that his student earned a title that matches his teacher's.

Another thing known about the style is one of the branches within: Godai no Jutsu. This branch or 'stance' is the control, manipulation, and use of the five elements (wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning). The attacks within the stance can range from a simple shield of wind, water, or earth to widespread destruction using a combination of the elements.

This is all we know so far of the Tensho-ryuu as Uzumaki Naruto is very adamant about keeping it secret, more will be reported as we learn more of the sword style and its wielder.

_Report written and submitted by Hatake Kakashi, Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato_

**:::::::::  
****Act I**_  
The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::  
****Chapter 5  
**_Isolated Catastrophe_  
**:::::::::**

Uchiha Sasuke grunted as he was blasted from the tree he had been running up to train his chakra control. His body reflexively flipped through the air once before he landed on the ground in a crouch. Standing, he took a deep breath and let it out before silently running at the same tree once more.

The raven haired boy barely noticed as he ran ten meters straight up, a half meter better than his last run. Quickly marking his place with the kunai in his hand, Sasuke was launched once more from the plant, small pieces of bark raining down with him as he fell and flipped through the air.

Landing, Sasuke panted slightly as he stood, fatigue starting to settle into his lithe frame. He looked around as he caught his breath. Kakashi, Sakura, and Natsuko were nowhere to be found and neither were the two other jounin who were accompanying Team Seven on their now A-Class mission. Looking into the sky, he sighed. The sun was just beginning to set, signifying that he had been training for almost the whole day.

Looking down at the ground, the Uchiha couldn't help but remember what happened the day before when he had a run in with Naruto. It had been short, and so had his temper, especially after seeing his teammates master the new chakra control exercise so easily, right after they had just been taught the exercise, too.

**:::::::::  
****The Makeshift Training Ground  
**_Yesterday Afternoon_  
**:::::::::**

Sasuke breathed hard as he glared at the tree he had been training on the whole day and he was only six meters up. If that wasn't enough, both Sakura and Natsuko had left the makeshift training grounds, having finished the chakra control exercise a couple hours earlier than him. It only served to irritate him.

Sighing angrily, the raven haired boy decided to take a walk to clear his mind of his anger. His thoughts strayed to five years ago when his beloved brother, Uchiha Itachi, had betrayed Konoha and had betrayed the Uchiha.

The then thirteen year old ANBU captain had mercilessly slaughtered the whole clan, starting with his best friend Uchiha Shisui. But for some reason, Itachi had spared Sasuke, though he left him with words to live in his hate and anger, that this was the only way to become powerful enough to kill the rogue Uchiha.

And that was exactly what Sasuke tried to do. From the day he woke up in the hospital with the Fourth Hokage smiling sadly over him to this day, he trained, he hated, he angered. He dreamed of killing his brother and he decided from that day when he was eight, that nothing would stop him from accomplishing this goal.

Only recently he had become even more spiteful. This samurai, Naruto he called himself, was strong. Sasuke would've been dumb to not realize that. The raven haired boy had been brought up like most shinobi though, believing that samurai were weak and that ninja were the superior race. Though Sasuke could respect the man's power, the story that Tazuna had told just rubbed the boy the wrong way. Someone had committed an atrocity similar to Itachi, but on a more grandiose scale.

He wanted to challenge the man, just to see if he was really like the bridge builder's story or just a fake, but, after seeing that battle between the blonde and Zabuza, Sasuke was very unsure of his decision. He wasn't in a hurry to die after all.

It made him wonder though, if he'd be able to learn the man's sword style and his power. He had eavesdropped on the conversation the jounin had with Naruto the night before, and was amazed at what the samurai had said. He hadn't known that. After all, the Academy only taught about ninja and the history of the Elemental Nations, only mentioning samurai in passing.

But that brought another thought. The blonde had said that _all_ chakra was removed. He didn't want to lose what he had spent five painful years training rigorously with. Especially if he ever unlocked his Sharingan, he wouldn't give his bloodline up for any power, no matter how destructive it was.

Sighing, Sasuke looked up to the sky and noticed that the moon was just starting to rise. He must have been thinking and walking for at least an hour. Looking down at the base of a rather large tree, the Uchiha found the object of his thoughts: Naruto.

The masked man was sitting on the ground, his back resting on the bark of the tree with his nodachi sword resting along the left side of his chest. Sasuke couldn't tell if the man's eyes were closed or not, though the solitary breathing indicated the man was either asleep or meditating. The teenager guessed the latter.

Building up his confidence, Sasuke stepped up to the meditating man, intent on rousing him. He was surprised however as the man spoke first. "What do you want, Uchiha Sasuke?" The man's eyes opened and stared into Sasuke's charcoal eyes.

Swallowing his doubts, the Uchiha steeled himself. "I want to challenge you to a fight."

The man kept his eyes leveled to Sasuke's, staring at the boy with his soul penetrating red eyes. Sasuke began to sweat slightly as the swordsman, after what felt like an hour of staring, finally looked away as he rose from his spot on the ground. "I refuse your request."

The Uchiha's eyes widened. "What? You can't refu-!"

"What is it that you want to prove, Uchiha-san?" Though the man's voice was slightly gravelly and soft, it held a sliver of irritation to it as he interrupted the raven haired boy.

Sasuke looked to the ground and thought for a moment. What did he want to prove? That he was strong, that he was powerful, that he was better than his brother. But somewhere inside of himself, he knew he wasn't. His brother had been an ANBU Captain at thirteen, and what was he? Merely a genin fresh out of the Academy, and even though he knew he was the best out of his year, he knew he wasn't the best to ever come out of the academy. But, still he needed to prove this, if not to the blonde man, than to himself.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as the Uchiha's own eyes, even his posture, filled with solid determination. "I need to prove that I'm strong, that I'm powerful, that I could beat _him_, kill _him_."

The blonde gazed at the Uchiha for all of a second before he turned and started to walk away. "You... have a long way to go, Uchiha-san, before you could even _scratch_ me. Maybe once you've grown a bit, I'll allow you to challenge me. But, as it is now, you are nothing but a child, whining for attention."

Sasuke felt something within him snap. Anger and hate flashed through the boy's eyes and before he could restrain himself, he lashed out, several kunai flying through the air as his hands sped through hand seals. Gathering air into his lungs, the boy yelled out, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and breathed out a large ball of fire towards the blonde.

He was surprised that his weapons and technique hit his target. A sense of arrogance overtook him as a small smirk made its way to his face. So, he was surprised as not a second after the fire died down, he was in the air, his skull clutched within Naruto's rough hand. He was brought up to Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke felt a fear he hadn't felt since _that _night five years prior: the same fear he felt when he had stared into his brother's morphed eyes.

Before he knew what was happening, Sasuke was thrown through the air and collided with a tree. He fell to his hands and knees, breathing hard in pain. The raven haired teen looked up and could only stare at the blonde's emotionless red eyes.

"You're pathetic, _Uchiha_. You're too hasty and arrogant, thinking that you're powerful, when you're weak. You know, when I was your age... I had killed off five towns already and defeated thirty-two masters of the blade. What have you done?" Naruto questioned.

Sasuke looked to the ground, tears beginning to form in his eyes as his shell finally broke. He wasn't use to such harsh criticism, unless it had been from his father. "I-I haven't done anything. I wasn't able to stop him from killing them. I wasn't able to stop my own brother from killing my family. But, I promised myself... I would become stronger, powerful. I promised myself that I would avenge their deaths, even if it meant selling my soul to the devil himself."

He looked back up to Naruto and stared at the masked man. "C-Can you train me? With a power like yours, I could kill that man easily... I could actually achieve my goals."

Suddenly, an immense weight pressed down upon his body, forcing Sasuke down to his side, nearly suffocating him with an invisible force of... something. He panted hard as his lungs felt like they were being compressed by vice clamps... it almost felt like his very soul was being crushed by an immense pressure. Darkness just began to cloud his vision when the pressure went away just as instantly as it had come down upon him.

Sasuke panted heavily, trying desperately to fill his lungs with oxygen once more. "W-What the hell was that?"

"That," Naruto began to explain coldly, "was my reiatsu. I know you had been listening when I explained it, so I gave you a taste of it. You, like most ninja, cannot withstand the pressure of a samurai's reiatsu, this is why we try not to use it in your kind's presence." Naruto turned and began to walk away. He stopped two meters from the heavily panting Uchiha. "As for your question, I don't have the time or patience to teach a _child_ how to breathe."

The blonde began to walk away again. "Perhaps, if you want to become stronger, you should try to master the techniques you already have at your disposal... you could try making them stronger or get faster at using them. Oh, and try not to seem so arrogant, Uchiha-san, it... is unbecoming of someone with your potential."

Though emotions warred inside Sasuke's head, a smile formed on his mouth. The blonde man, despite his attitude towards the swordsman, had given the Uchiha a piece of advice that could possibly propel the boy to new heights of power.

**:::::::::  
****The Makeshift Training Ground**  
_Present Day and Time_  
**:::::::::**

Sasuke sighed as he looked into the sky that was slowly starting to darken to night. He looked at his training tree and his eyes hardened with determination and resolve as Naruto's words of advice whispered through his mind. He would master the chakra control exercise, not until he reached the top of tree, but until it became second nature to him. Then, he would begin to master his fire techniques until he could do them with only one hand seal, and do the same with any jutsu he learned from then on.

Another thought went through his head. _'Maybe, just maybe, this is the way I was supposed to do this. Not through hate and haste, but through calm and skill. And then, I will kill Itachi and avenge my clan.'_ With that thought, he continued his training with a renewed vigor, never noticing as a pair of red eyes watched his progress.

**:::::::::  
****Somewhere Outside Tazuna's House**  
_Morning of the Third Day_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto watched silently as a brunette haired girl dressed in pink picked herbs. The morning haze made the scene look dull and drab, though the animals of the woods seemed drawn to the teenage girl. The scene painted the perfect image of innocence and kindness, but the blonde saw through the façade as he felt the familiar feel of the hunter ninja's energy circulation coming from the girl, something he recognized instantly... it was cold to his senses, like ice.

He watched as the girl stood, satisfied with the amount of herbs she had picked. Naruto then made his presence known as he walked out from his place behind a tree, startling the girl. The brunette's eyes widened for a moment before recognition set into her brown irises. "Y-You! What do you want?"

"To keep to a meeting I set with your master, Hunter-san," Naruto spoke softly so only the girl could hear. "Now, you are going to take me to him, girl, or I will reveal to the Leaf ninja's your true identity and the location of Momochi-san."

The girl looked taken aback by the threat, but complied nonetheless. "Alright... if he's expecting you, Majin-san, I shall take you to him." She began to flash through one handed hand seals. "Oh, by the way, I'm a boy."

Just as she finished the seals, Naruto snorted slightly. "And I'm the savior of the world." And they left in a Shunshin, the girl shocked that the man knew her secret.

Up in a tree above the small clearing, red eyes watched as the two left in the body flicker technique. Kurenai narrowed her eyes at the suspicious actions of the blonde man. _'What are you up to, Naruto-san?'_

**:::::::::  
****Zabuza's Hideout**  
_Five Minutes Later_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto walked into the small hut that served as Zabuza's hideout with the girl, Haku he had learned her name was, at his side. Haku opened the door to the room housing the missing-nin and gestured for the blonde to enter. He looked around the frugal room as he stepped inside. The brunette girl followed him in, locking the door behind her as she moved to the side of, presumably, Zabuza's bed.

"Heh, I was wondering if you were just spouting bullshit when you said you'd meet me in two days," Zabuza's weak voice spoke from the bed. The man began to sit up, but had to ultimately have Haku help him lean against the headboard. "Uzumaki Naruto... I was wondering when I'd get to meet you in person."

Naruto only stared before he untied his mask's bindings and took it off, eliciting a small gasp from Haku as he revealed his face. He sat on a stool that was beside the bed. "You know... you look like crap."

"Heh," Zabuza snorted weakly, "well, I do feel like shit, ya know?" He leveled a glare at the blonde man. "Now, what the hell do you want? I don't really make it a point to talk to those I need to kill, though I don't really think I have a choice... do I?"

The blonde raised a hand to placate the injured shinobi. "I'm not here to start a fight, Zabuza-san. I'm here to end the one you're in now. I want to make a deal with you."

Zabuza's eye narrowed in suspicion. "And just what do you have in mind?"

"After I kill Gatou and another annoyance, I want you and your apprentice," he nodded toward Haku, who blushed slightly at the handsome man acknowledging her, "to accompany me to Konoha. There's something there that I need to find, something about my birth parents, if they're alive that is..."

"What else?" Zabuza questioned curiously.

Naruto sighed almost... tiredly. "There is something else. A few months before I went into exile, I found some ancient ruins, I had no clue what it was or the mystery it had held. A year ago, I went back to those same ruins. They hadn't changed since I had last visited them and I did some research with a colleague of mine. It turns out that those ruins are actually recently made and were meant for something other than making history."

"What were they made for Naruto-san?" Haku asked, curious about the ruins.

The samurai's eyes hardened as he gazed at his mask for a moment. "They... They were made to imprison something... something big. What it is, I've no clue, other than that it is powerful, more so than every shinobi and samurai on this earth. It could possibly even be stronger than the Kyuubi no Youko, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts."

"And let me guess, you want us to help you fight this thing, right?" Zabuza questioned. While he was one for a fight, he didn't want to be obliterated by some godly being because someone asked it of him.

Naruto just shook his head. "No, I wouldn't ask someone else to do what I should be able to do on my own. Anyway, if it helps you consider, I can pay you for your services. Any price, I'll pay it." The blonde stood and retied his mask to his face. He began to move toward the door when Zabuza spoke up, stopping him.

"We'll go with you, as long as you let me end Gatou. I never really liked the little rat anyway," the man spoke, surprising Haku with the turn of events.

"B-But Zabuza-sama, what about your dream, are you just going to give that up? I thought that was more important than anything," the girl asked in shock and surprise.

Zabuza looked to his lap. "I'm not a very insightful man or a very religious one for that matter. But, I believe, especially now with you here Devil, that when my coup failed and I got away alive, that was fate telling me I wasn't ready to be Mizukage... yet. I will still fight for that, but, I need some more excitement in my life, and this may be the only way I'm going to get it." He looked back to the masked man, who just stared. "We'll go with you, but you still have to pay."

The blonde nodded. "I will need you to still play this charade with the Konoha ninja for a little while more, at least enough to fool Gatou. I'll make sure you and only you kill him. I'm going now, before the others get suspicious. I'll see you both in four day's time." With that, he left the two alone to their thoughts.

"Haku," Zabuza spoke as he stared at the door the blonde man left through, "If anything happens to me, ever, I want you to follow that man."

The brunette's eyes widened in shock as she caught the medicine she was about to apply to Zabuza's wounds from falling to the floor. "But, Zabuza-sama, I-!"

Zabuza cut her off with a raised hand. "I said _if_, Haku." He sighed tiredly. "That man is going to go on to do great things for this world, whether he realizes it or not. I'd rather you be in his presence than killing yourself because I died. I want you to live, Haku, not die for something as worthless as a hopeless dream."

Tears welled within Haku's eyes as emotions danced within her brown irises. "Thank you, Zabuza-sama."

The man just shook his head dismissively. "Don't thank me, girl. Now, I need to rest for what's to come."

"Yes, Zabuza-sama," Haku nodded, a small smile on her face as she applied the salve she had made to her surrogate father's wounds.

**:::::::::**  
**Tazuna's House**  
_Several Hours Later_  
**:::::::::**

The sky was beginning to darken as the occupants of Tazuna's house sat for supper. The group ate happily, Kakashi's genin chattering noisily as their sensei read his little orange book. Kurenai was talking adamantly with Tsunami, though the brunette jounin kept taking small, furtive glances of Naruto, and Anko and Tazuna were sharing a bottle of sake.

The peaceful atmosphere was then crushed as Inari stood, his fist slamming into the table. "Why are you all so happy? You're all just going to die anyway! Gatou's going to kill you all, and you just don't seem to care!"

Everyone silenced as they stared at Inari, though it was Naruto who broke the tension as he chuckled suddenly, though it had no mirth in it whatsoever. "You really think a man like Gatou is going to kill me?"

Though he felt fear when he looked into the blonde's eyes, Inari was defiant to the end. "He's done it before. He'll kill anyone that gets in his way!"

"I see," Naruto said as he stared sadly at the boy. "You lost someone to Gatou then, huh? Whoever it was must have been real special to you, for you to stand firm with this idiotic belief to a man like me." The blonde sighed as tears welled within Inari's eyes, the boy remembering who he lost. "You don't have to cry, kid. As long as you remember who that person was and the emotion you felt for them, they will always be with you in mind and spirit."

"That was very kind of you Naruto," Kakashi said, his visible eye 'smiling'. "I didn't know the Devil of the Flood had a soft spot in him."

Naruto glared at the man halfheartedly. "It's what reminds me that I'm still human. Just because I've killed the people I believed my family, doesn't mean that I don't try to remember them and the time I shared with them. I'm not one who is in touch with their 'feelings', but I let those I had loved live through me, even if I was their murderer."

That statement served to quiet the table as its occupants stared oddly at the blonde. He sighed as he stood with his mask and sword in hand. "I think I've said too much. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to bed now."

The group watched him leave, most wondering about the blonde enigma, though Kakashi had to wonder just what was up as he watched Kurenai leave for bed as well ten minutes later. Bringing his book to view, he giggled, deciding to think about it later.

**:::::::::**

Naruto sat on his futon, staring sadly at the mattress. _'Why did I bring that up for? The kid should have gotten the point. Stupid scarecrow, he just had to make me feel.'_

_**What do you feel?**_

The swordsman looked up quickly as a melodious voice entered his head. _'There's no one here. Who just spoke to me then?'_

_**I did, or are you trying to ignore me?**_

The voice spoke once more and Naruto admitted to himself that, besides _her_ voice, this one was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.

_**Don't make me blush you sweet talker.**_

Naruto growled in his throat. The voice was playing with him, it had to be. _'I know you can hear me as I think. Tell me who and where you are.'_

_**Oh, I don't want to reveal myself yet, love. But I will tell you, I've been with you for a very long time, and I've seen every little atrocious act you've committed... and I think I'm in love.**_

The blonde looked down sadly. How could something with such a beautiful, melodious voice love someone like him?

_**Oh but I do, and always will.**_

Naruto's eyes hardened as he steeled himself. He didn't need such worthless emotions like love.

_**But you will, love. And when the time comes, you will always have mine.**_

Before Naruto could respond to the voice, his door opened, making him look up into Kurenai's red eyes. He noticed the woman looked apprehensive at the moment. "Is there something I can do for you Yuuhi-san?"

"Yes, there is actually," the woman answered. She turned and locked the door before going through a set of hand seals. The room shimmered slightly before the woman turned back to him. "I wanted to know why you met with Zabuza and his accomplice today."

The blonde sighed. He found himself doing that a lot lately. "I met with Momochi-san to make a deal with him. After this fiasco is settled and Gatou is dead, I will be returning to Konoha with you and the others. Zabuza-san and Haku-san will be accompanying me."

Kurenai's eye narrowed as she stared at the man, trying her damndest to read him, though he gave nothing away. "You do know that Momochi Zabuza is an A-Rank Missing Nin, correct? He and any accomplice will be killed on sight once we reach the Leaf's gate."

"If that were to happen, I'll kill whoever tries," Naruto spoke, his eyes half-lidded. "You need to understand something, Kurenai-san. Something is going to happen soon, maybe not now, maybe not in a year or so from now, but it will happen. And once it does, I'm going to need all the help I can get to stop it."

The woman was shocked by this. She didn't really know what to think at the moment. The man seemed genuine and Kurenai couldn't deny that the man also seemed depressed and withdrawn, like his thoughts were eating at him and he didn't know what to do. "W-What is it that's going to happen?"

Naruto looked at his hands and even though they were perfectly clean, he could still see the appendages soaked in blood. "I... I don't know. There's something out there, a being of great and destructive power. I can feel that power even now, it's so... chaotic and blasphemous. I don't know what or who it is, but I know an agent of it is here in the Wave, and I'm going to drag all the information I can from him, even if I have to cut him into pieces."

"That doesn't explain why you want to go to Konoha, though," Kurenai spoke, though she was still in a sort of daze.

"To know that, you'd have to know me and what I've done," Naruto explained as he looked to his sword.

Thinking for a moment, the woman moved from her spot against the door to Naruto's bed and sat on the mattress across from the blonde man. "I'm willing to listen, if you're willing to tell."

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction before he nodded, a small, genuine smile spreading upon his lips. "Okay, then, Kurenai-san, I will tell you my story, if you'll tell me yours."

Kurenai looked thoughtful for a second as she brought a finger to her chin. "There's not much to tell, but I guess I could, since you are being so generous with your own."

The blonde nodded his thanks and began his tale. "My story starts when I was three. I was found and adopted by a man named Shiokaze Akira and his family. He must have something in me because the next day, he began training me in his personal style called the Tensho-ryuu..."

**:::::::::  
****Tazuna's House**  
_The End of the Week_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto sat in the corner of the dining room meditating. Kurenai sat at the table, cleaning her kunai. The two had stayed at Tazuna's house to protect Tsunami and Inari. Kakashi, the night before, had speculated that Gatou was likely to send someone to kidnap Tazuna's family and use them as collateral. The blonde had agreed to this and volunteered for the job. He had been surprised when Kurenai had also volunteered, much to the disappointment to Anko.

Kakashi had nodded and said that he, his team, and Anko would be enough to handle Zabuza and his accomplice. Early that morning the Team Seven along with the special jounin and Tazuna left for the bridge.

The last four nights had served to surprise Naruto, as he found himself talking to Kurenai for a few hours each night, more than he had talked to any human in seven years. The woman was so much like he was, calm, collected, and quiet, though without the killing streak he had. He was glad the woman didn't show disgust towards him when he recounted the Kouchou no Zansatsu.

The blonde broke from his reverie as a distinct energy flow was heading towards the house. He stood and looked to Kurenai. "Get ready. It won't just be a couple of mercenaries like Hatke-san had thought."

Nodding, the woman collected her equipment and prepared herself. "I'm ready for whatever Gatou has planned."

Naruto nodded himself as he strapped his nodachi to his back. He turned toward the door just as the entrance was sliced through and fell to the ground.

"Knock, knock," a man in an eye patch joked. His companion, a man in a ski jacket smirked. The man with the eye patch grinned. "Oh look at this, a pretty lady and a guy playing samurai. I don't know which one I should chop up first."

The masked swordsman chuckled darkly. "The only one's playing samurai... are you idiots."

Both men looked dumbfounded at the comeback, giving enough time for pair of slender, bandaged hands to take hold of each of the mercenary's heads. The hands quickly twisted the men's necks, eliciting a sharp crack as the men fell to the floor, dead.

Naruto looked at the two Kurenai's standing over the men then to the one beside him. "A multiple body technique?"

Kurenai nodded. "It's called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It creates a solid chakra construct that can be used in almost any situation, though it only takes one hit to dispel the technique."

"Oh," Naruto said, impressed with the technique.

Suddenly, something large and silver cut through the house's walls and through the clones. Looking outside, the two found a medium sized man dressed in red and white standing on the wooden walkway, a large double edged steel sword resting on his right shoulder.

The man chuckled. "It's about time I found you, Majin. Now, I'm going to kill you for what you did two years and deliver your head to his Highness."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow as she looked at Naruto. "A friend of yours I presume."

"No," the blonde said with a shake of his head. "But he's about to be." With that they both launched at the stranger, who chuckled as he raised his sword.

"Let's dance!"

**:::::::::  
****The Bridge**  
**:::::::::**

Kakashi breathed hard as he fought Zabuza, his Sharingan eye spinning slowly as he tried to find the swordsman, but the thick mist that permeated the air limited his sight a great deal and played on one of the major drawbacks of the Sharingan. Two of his students were fighting Zabuza's partner as the other stayed with Tazuna, and Anko was hiding in the mist, looking for an ideal opening to strike.

The grey haired jounin quickly ducked as he heard the sharp whistling of metal slicing through the air. Zabuza's large sword passed over his head, the man trailing behind it in the open. Kakashi, seeing this as an opening, sliced the man with a kunai. He didn't expect, however, for the man to burst into water, revealing that it had just been a clone.

"Heh, so even the great Copy Ninja Kakashi can be fooled. Well, this just makes it more fun, then," Zabuza's voice sounded from all throughout the mist.

Kakashi sighed as his hair was dampened from the water. "Why don't you come out and play, face to face, Zabuza. You never know, it could be better that way."

"For who Kakashi? You? Your little snake in the tree? I don't think so, but nice try though," Zabuza said before he rushed at Kakashi once more, his sword held out to the side.

**:::::::::**

On the other side of the bridge, Sasuke and Natsuko were fighting their own battle against Zabuza's partner, Haku. The two genin were trapped in a dome of mirrors made of ice and were repeatedly getting stabbed with senbon needles that the fake hunter-nin masterfully used, though she kept hitting non-vital areas, it didn't mean that it wasn't painful to experience.

Sasuke, finally, saw a quick blur as started to feel dizzy from pain and chakra exhaustion. _'Wait a moment!'_ New found energy coursed through the Uchiha's body. _'I can see his movements. It isn't perfect, but I can see it now.'_ Looking over to his blonde teammate, Sasuke addressed her. "Natsuko, I have a plan."

The girl nodded. "What is it Sasuke?"

"Distract him, I'm going to try something," Sasuke said, getting ready to go through a quick chain of hand seals.

"O-Okay," Natsuko said with a slight hesitation in her voice. Gathering her chakra, the daughter of the Fourth steeled herself. She put her hands in a cross shaped seal and called out her technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke enshrouded the girl and once it cleared, eight stood where there had only been one. "Alright! Let's do this!" With that battle cry, the Natsuko's charged the mirrors with drawn kunai.

Sasuke watched intently, his just awakened Sharingan spinning slowly as he tried to see when the ninja in the mirrors would move and to where. Needles flew towards him, though one of the Natsuko's took the senbon for him, dispelling in midair. Through the haze of the chakra smoke, Sasuke saw another blur of motion. Completing a quick chain of hand seals, the Uchiha took a deep breath of air. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Aimed at one specific mirror, a ball of fire was breathed out from Sasuke's mouth. He had timed it just a little too slow as the hunter-nin flew into the ice, the back of his leg getting singed by the flames.

Sasuke smirked at his small success. _'I can do this. I can predict where he's going to go. If I get my timing right, I just might be able to take him down.'_

While the boy was thinking to himself, his opponent was not idle. Haku narrowed her eyes and prepared to attack the two genin once more. Deciding the Uchiha was more dangerous than the girl, Haku threw her senbon, unable to predict what would happen next.

**:::::::::  
****Tazuna's House**  
**:::::::::**

Kurenai watched from her perch on the side of Tazuna's house as Naruto and the stranger, Akihiro, flew at each other, their swords clashing in blurs of black and silver, sparks flying from each collision of the blades. Naruto jumped back as Akihiro brought his large blade crashing down, destroying the wooden walkway that led to Tazuna's home.

The mysterious stranger launched himself at the retreating Naruto and spun, his sword swirling like a propeller. Naruto brought his sword up and caught Akihiro's blade with ease. "Who is it that you work for, Genjitsu-san?"

Akihiro chortled mirthlessly. "I'm not going to tell you a damned thing, Majin. No, in fact, I'm going to kill you and give your head to his Highness on a platinum platter. He'll like that." Breaking their deadlock, the man raised his sword and brought it down, but missed as the blonde swordsman stepped to his right.

Naruto, seeing an opening, stabbed his sword forward, but his nodachi was parried as Akihiro spun his blade up. He quickly back flipped as the man sliced his sword through the water below them in an upwards slash.

Landing, Naruto blasted forwards in a dash and used a well timed Sokudo to evade another slash from the red garbed man. Reappearing behind Akihiro, Naruto brought his sword over his head and successfully cut through Akihiro's back, though the wound was too shallow to be anything other than an annoyance.

The stranger grunted in pain before spinning, his large sword lashing out. Akihiro focused his energy into his greatsword and sent a blade of pure red energy screaming towards Naruto, who seemed shocked by the technique for a fraction of a second. Using another Sokudo, Naruto was able to dodge the attack, though he was forced to use his speed technique again as Akihiro slashed his weapon repeatedly, the blades of energy blasting from the tip of his sword.

Skidding along the water's surface, Naruto decided it was time to end the battle. Standing up straight, Naruto brought his sword up, aimed at Akihiro, who only laughed sadistically.

"Is that supposed to scare me, little devil? Well it doesn't, so I guessed you failed!" The man laughed as he shouldered his sword.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as a sphere of wind formed at the tip of his blade. "Then I guess you are ready to meet the King of Hell? Then I shall oblige."

Kurenai's eyes widened as a red light flashed Naruto's technique. _'That was quicker than when he used it against Zabuza. I don't feel that pressure, either. Is he not using that reiatsu he talked about?'_

Akihiro laughed again. "I'm not going to die! Not in this lifetime!" He then rushed at Naruto, his large sword over his head.

"So be it," the masked man spoke. "Senpuudou!" A tunnel like blast flew at the charging man, the wind and water churning and spiraling towards Akihiro. Just as the blast reached the man, he brought his sword down, cutting through the technique and sending a large blade of energy towards Naruto. The blonde's technique died down as it was cut in half and the red garbed man's attack hit, exploding on contact with the swordsman.

A loud, boisterous laugh escaped Akihiro as he surveyed his victory. "I guess he wasn't as powerful as his Highness said. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now, I just need to find the bastard's head and I can leave this shithole."

Finding the man completely open, Kurenai launched two dozen kunai and shuriken at the man as she jumped towards him. She had expected a number of things the man could do, but smacking the weapons and her away in just one move with the flat side of his sword was not one of them somehow.

'_Shit!'_ She thought as she crossed her arms so the appendages took the brunt of the lazy attack. The brunette crashed into the earth across from the house, repeatedly slamming into the ground before skidding to a stop on the balls of her feet. Kurenai panted as pain coursed through her body, but pushed it to the back of her mind as she drew a pair of kunai.

Akihiro chuckled as he approached the jounin, his dark eyes showing sadistic glee. "You know, if I wasn't in such a hurry," he seemed to lick his lips behind his red scarf, "I'd have a little fun with you, pretty lady. But, as it is, I'm going to have to make this quick." He brought his sword over his head and slashed down.

Kurenai raised her kunai and focused chakra into her arms, ready to try and stop what could be the killing blow.

There was a loud crash of steel, making Kurenai look up. Above her was Naruto, his sword held behind his back blocking the other man's blow and his mask gone, most likely destroyed by Akihiro's attack.

Naruto gazed into her eyes and then smiled. "Are you hurt, Kurenai-san?"

The woman was too shocked to speak, but shook her head nonetheless.

"I'm glad, then," he said, his smile still on his face. Kurenai admitted to herself that he was even more handsome when he smiled. The blonde suddenly frowned as he slashed his sword over his head, throwing Akihiro back a few meters.

Akihiro skidded to a stop and glared angrily at the blonde who turned towards him. "How the hell did you survive that?"

"You obviously think I'm some pathetic novice and that the power coursing through your body is like that of a God's," Naruto began, his sword at his side. He gazed at the man lazily as black energy began to coalesce around his body, eliciting a surprised gasp from Kurenai. "But you would be wrong. I am the strongest samurai to walk the earth since Oda Nobunaga. And because you tried to hurt someone I can call my friend, I'm going to obliterate you."

"Just try it," Akihiro retorted as a blood red energy formed around his body in a triple helix. "I'll just fucking kill you first." The energy encased the man in a cocoon-like structure. After a minute, the cocoon shattered, sending hardened energy flying everywhere.

Naruto spun his blade in front of him, swatting the glass-like debris away. When he set his eyes upon the being in front of him, the blonde knew he wasn't staring at a human any longer. The creature looked like a small but solid mass of muscle covered in pitch black skin and torn red and white clothing that had a canine head, claws, and feet.

'Akihiro' grinned, or did something akin to a grin, through his torn scarf. It was utterly disgusting. "Like my new form? His Highness was nice enough to bless me with this and a new energy form called Reiryoku. With this, I'm going to bury you."

"Kurenai-san," Naruto spoke as he glared at the monstrosity in front of him. "Get Tsunami and Inari to safety, then head to the bridge. I'll be there shortly."

The kunoichi looked shocked for a moment before complying. She did a few hand seals and left in a quick Body Flicker.

Naruto concentrated for a moment. Once he felt that they were all at least two kilometers away, he looked back at Akihiro. "I guess I'll have to finish this quick then. Feel honored, monster, I haven't had to use a fourth of my power in a very long time."

The thing just grinned. "Then I'll go all out on your ass." Focusing his reiatsu into his greatsword, Akihiro stabbed the blade into the ground. As soon as he did, four pillars of white hot fire launched into the air and formed into dogs. Giving a pseudo bark, the dogs rushed at Naruto who only stared, before a smirk crossed his face.

"This should be fun."

**:::::::::**  
**The Bridge**  
**:::::::::**

Sasuke's eyes widened as Natsuko fell into his arms, a pair of needles in her neck. "Y-You idiot! W-Why did you do that?"

The girl smiled. "B-Because o-out of the two of us, y-you're the only one that can win." She looked into his eyes with her own violet orbs. "J-Just promise me... that y-you will always p-protect our home a-and those precious to you."

The Uchiha nodded frantically. "I promise, Natsuko." In his mind he was afraid. _'Not again! Not another one!'_

"T-Thank you, S-Sasuke-kun," Natsuko whispered before her eyes closed, 'dead'.

Sasuke shook with anger, sorrow, and hate. Anger at the girl in his arms who saved him, sorrow that he couldn't do anything for her, and hate at the ninja who killed her. In his mind, Sasuke knew that the blonde haired girl was his only friend, even if they only recently started talking to each other. The girl was the closest thing to a friend he had, and now she was gone because of him. _'It's my fault she's dead. If I had been better, faster, stronger, I could have saved her. I could have done something, anything!'_

A lone tear fell from his eye, a tear of blood. He heard the ninja say something, but he didn't care. All he cared about, was killing the person who had killed his first and best friend, even if he was to blame for her death. He stood, blood red eyes with an atom-like shape surrounding his pupil glaring at the ninja in the mirrors.

"W-What happened to your eyes?" Haku questioned, shocked and mesmerized by the transformed irises.

Sasuke didn't hear her though. Darkness was starting to cloud his vision as his body began to feel heavier and heavier. His energy was continuously draining and he felt his chakra deplete rapidly. "I'm going to kill you," Sasuke started to walk forward, but suddenly fell to the ground unconscious.

Haku almost hyperventilated. She had been afraid for her life there for a second, but was glad that the boy depleted his chakra reserves to the point of collapsible exhaustion. Whatever had happened to his eyes, Haku knew that if he had used them, she'd be dead now. If they fought again, she was never putting anyone close to the boy in a death-like state if that was the reaction the Uchiha had.

**:::::::::**

Anko huffed childishly as she held Zabuza in her Senei'Jashuu, her snakes binding the man and his sword. She pouted. "Ah, that was no fun."

Kakashi took a deep breath to calm himself. "Well, I'm sorry Anko, I just wanted to end this fast, so I set him up for you."

"Pfft, save your excuses, old man," Anko said, annoyed. She looked to Zabuza and grinned. "Now, what should I do with you, big boy?"

Zabuza tried struggling for a moment before settling to his fate. "You could try letting me go, you crazy bitch!"

The woman pouted once more. "I could, but where's the fun in that?"

"Put him down, Anko," a voice spoke, making the purple haired jounin look over her shoulder.

"Kurenai-chan! You're okay? I was so worried about you," Anko said slightly concerned.

The red eyed woman nodded her head. "I'm fine Anko, really. Now put him down, Zabuza is working for Naruto-kun."

Zabuza looked confused for a moment. "He told you?"

"What do you mean he's working for Naruto?" Kakashi questioned confused as Anko set the swordsman down and recalled her snakes. A strange wave of pressure and dizziness for a moment, before it died down as quickly as it rose, leaving the jounin confused for a second.

"She means that I'm paying him and Haku to play along with this façade," Naruto said as he appeared on the bridge in a blur of black. "Ah, and there's the audience." The mist that hung in the air parted, showing the group an army of mercenaries led by a short, fat man wearing a pair of expensive sunglasses. "I am to presume that you are Gatou, yes?"

'Gatou' smirked evilly. "Why yes, I am, Majin-san." He looked to his right where the girl that broke his arm was laying out a blonde haired girl and a raven haired boy as a pink haired girl rushed over and immediately began fussing over the boy. "You, you're the bitch who did this to me."

Haku stood and walked over to Zabuza and Naruto, standing defiantly against the tyrant. "And? What are you going to do about it?"

The man's face screwed up in fury. "You bitch! Boys, kill all but her and the pretty ones, I want to teach them a _very_ special lesson!" The men behind Gatou roared in approval, but were drowned out as a mirthless laugh sounded from in front of them.

Naruto grinned. "I'm not going to let a group of low lives like you all even _touch_ these people. I haven't used this move in awhile, so it's a bit rusty, but I'll still be done carving you all before you even touch the ground." He drew his sword and held it in a hanging guard. "You ninja, watch what a true samurai can do." Black energy spiraled around Naruto. "Now, are you ready for judgment?"

The grin on Naruto's face disappeared as he spoke his next words. "Tensho-ryuu! Daiku Kamae: Hachidori!" With the words spoken, Naruto disappeared. There was no blur, no sound, he was just gone. Then there was a sound, something akin to a hummingbird flapping his wings.

Gatou and his small army looked on confused, though the ninja just barely saw glints of light. Then Naruto reappeared once more, his back to the mercenaries and his blade dripping with blood. He swiped it to the side, flicking the sword clean. "They don't even know their dead... do they?" The blonde brought his nodachi up to his back and sheathed it with a click.

In that instant, small streaks of white light appeared through the men behind Gatou before they exploded into a fine, bloody mist as they fell into carved chunks of flesh, bone, and sinew. The ninja in front of Naruto had various reactions, though Sakura's scream of utter horror summed up most of their thoughts.

The short tyrant was hyperventilating as his blood covered face stared in terror at what had been nearly three hundred men. He turned and stared at the back of the blonde murderer's head. "W-W-What the h-hell are you, y-you monster?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the diminutive man then over to Zabuza. "As promised, Zabuza-san, he's all yours."

The Demon of the Mist pulled his bandages from his mouth and grinned, his sharp, shark-like teeth inciting even more fear in Gatou. He raised his sword to his side, and began a slow walk towards Gatou. "I'm going to enjoy this!" And he began to pick up speed.

Gatou raised his hands defensively as he began to back away. "W-What do want? Money, w-women, power? I'll give you whatever the fuck want, just don't kill me!" He pleadingly screamed as he neared the edge of the bridge.

"All I want," Zabuza spoke as he reached Gatou, his cleaver above his head, "is your life!"

And he brought the sword down...

* * *

**Translation(s):** None I think. If there is, well then tell me and I'll translate it.

**:::::::::**

**Technique(s):** (Below)

**Name:** Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Great Fireball Techniques!)  
**Type:** C-Rank, Offensive, Short Range (0-5m)  
**User(s):** Uchiha Sasuke, Various Konoha ninja (Known and Unknown)  
**Description:** After performing the necessary hand seals, a ninja inhales air via their mouth and, utilizing a large amount of fire chakra, spews a large fireball from their mouth, incinerating everything in range. The Uchiha clan uses the technique as a "coming of age" technique. This technique apparently requires more than average chakra reserves and most Genin should not be able to do this technique.

**Name: **Akihiro's Unnamed Energy Blade Technique  
**Type:** No Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Genjitsu Akihiro, Uzumaki Naruto (Known and Speculated)  
**Description:** By adding reiatsu to one's sword while slashing, the user will blast a blade of pure energy at the target. By adding more power to the attack, the force of the impact will become even more powerful and destructive. It is speculated that Uzumaki Naruto can use this technique, as he had formed blades of water during his brief battle with Momochi Zabuza.

**Name:** Akihiro's Unnamed Fire Dog Technique  
**Type:** No Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Genjitsu Akihiro (Known)  
**Description:** After transforming into his monstrous state, Akihiro will focus a large amount of reiatsu into his sword and blast pillars of fire (presumably lava) and form the flames into canine-like shapes. Akihiro has full control over these constructs and change their direction at any time. The technique died with Akihiro and is spectulated that Uzumaki Naruto can perform this technique, though it has yet to be confirmed.

**Name:** Tensho-ryuu! Daiku Kamae: Hachidori! (Piercing Heaven Style! The Ninth Stance: Hummingbird!)  
**Type:** S-Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description:** After focusing in Naruto's own creation, the Ninth Stance, Naruto will vanish completely and attack his opponents with extreme speed. This attack is so fast that only the most well trained eye will ever be able to see it, and then they will only see a glint of light. Also because of the speed of the technique, once Naruto reappears, the victim's will not realize they until a minute later. This technique is classed as S-Rank for the complete slaughter it is capable of and the strain put upon the user. Though Uzumaki Naruto shows no pain on the outside, internally his muscles have torn and ripped, though almost instantaneouly healed. Why this is, is unknown.

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** We are now at the end of the chapter and all the other crap, but that isn't important, as we are now, finally, at the end of the Wave Arc. Badass. Oh, and you just know that ending was badass too. If you didn't think so, well, whatever, I did at least, so... Ha! Anyway, this chapter had a couple things that I wanted to explain and ask, you the readers.

_One:_ Zabuza and Haku are going to stay alive for awhile and will act as Naruto's bodyguards, though he doesn't really need them. They will play a larger role in Act II, but that a ways off from right now.

_Two:_ Naruto's colleague will be introduced sometime before the Invasion of Konoha Arc. Just so you know, it won't be Kabuto, though it will be someone who works for Orochimaru.

_Three:_ I should have addressed this first, but, meh. Yes, Sasuke got his ass kind of kicked by Naruto and felt a focused blast of reiatsu, but it is meant as a lesson in humility. Some of you may like Sasuke, I personally don't, though I cannot deny how badass he has made the Chidori, especially that attack Kirin. That was awesome, though Itachi is still the ultimate badass because he survived it. But, anyways, Sasuke needed some humility beat into him early on, so realizes what he did in the chapter.

_Four:_ Yes, I gave Sasuke the Mangekyou early, maybe a bit too early. But don't worry, I have a plan. And no, it is not to God-Mod Sasuke. I will eternally dislike Kishi for that.

_Five:_ I so could have made a lemon out of that scene with Naruto and Kurenai, you know the one where she's questioning him, but I didn't. Yes, I know self control. Pervs! *****Giggles Pervertedly***** Yeah, I know, I'm a hypocrite.

_Six: _The thing Akihiro turned into will be explained, but you think of it like _Samurai Deeper Kyo._ That is still one of my favorite anime's of all time.

_Seven:_ Can you guess who his Highness is? If you can, well good for you, I don't have anything to give you though. Sorry! But don't let that stop you, hell, even if you get it wrong, you can still pat yourself on the back, from your pal Risen.

_Eight:_ This is the last one. If you can't guess just who talks like **_this_**, smack yourself on the back of the head. It is quite obvious, but, whatever. I'm going to reveal **_her_** either next chapter or the one after. Ohhhh! I can't wait! But I'm going to, for suspense's sake.

Alrighty then! I'm done and out of here. I hope you enjoyed the story and feel the need to review, I like hearing from you guys, but it ain't needed. Oh, and have a nice Fourth of July, too. I finally timed one right to get it out on a holiday. Awesome!

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	6. The Day That Never Comes

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Never have, never will.

**Author's Note:** Oh God! I'm sorry about this small delay. I just got onto to the computer Friday and from about eight last night to about two thirty this morning, I worked my ass off on this, only to delete most of it today and polish it up. Yeah, this is shorter than the last chapter, so please don't get mad at that.

Anyways, I'd like to address a couple of things:

_One:_ About Sasuke's eyes and him getting the Mangekyou, he has no clue he has it, as you'll see in this chapter. But I gave it to him for a reason as it will play a major role in this story.

_Two:_ I should have said this a few chapters ago, but here are a couple statistics for Naruto. He is about 198.12 cm (6 ft 6 in) tall and weighs about 88.5 kg (195 lb). Yeah, so, there you go. If I've done this already, laugh and then tell me. Thanks.

Alright, I think that's about it for now. So, read, review, and whatever. Enjoy the fic.

**

* * *

****The Devil's Blade**_  
An Epic reimagining of the Demon's Blade_

**By**_ RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

_***Kidnapped! The Hokage's Son is Gone!***_

"_Earlier this week, Uzumaki Naruto, the son of the Yondaime Hokage, was kidnapped. No one knows why or how the three year old child was taken and the Fourth, Namikaze Minato, and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, are not opening up about what happened. Most are speculating that it was Iwagakure ninja. If this true or not has yet to be confirmed._

_Others are speculating that the Hokage and his wife had the boy killed, as he was not-" _

Radio broadcast originally aired October Thirteenth, three days after the Hokage's Son was kidnapped. The broadcasters were never heard from again after this day.

**:::::::::  
****Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::**  
Chapter 6  
_The Day That Never Comes_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto sighed as he sat up on his futon, the black yukata he wore to bed clinging to his body from the cold sweat dripping from his skin. He brought his right hand up to his face and rubbed his tired eyes. He sighed again as he laid back down, noticing that the sun hadn't come up yet. He rubbed his forehead as he looked over at the alarm clock sitting next to him. 3:39 a.m.

'_Damn it.'_ He had had that dream again. It was that day, again and again, like something was forcing him to relive it. The day he came to the Land of High Tides, out of nowhere. The day he forgot the first three years of his life. Whenever he had the dream, thoughts always surfaced, especially now in this point of his life. He wanted to find and meet his parents, his real parents.

Turning his head to his right, Naruto closed his eyes, hoping to get back to sleep. Letting his body rest once more, thoughts of what could have been lulled him to sleep.

**:::::::::  
****Namikaze Mansion**  
_Seven Months Ago, October Tenth, 10:12 p.m. _  
**:::::::::**

A beautiful woman with fiery red hair and dark violet eyes stood before a door at the end of the hall on the second floor of her home. The room was right next to her and her husband's own room, as if it was a newborn child's. She swallowed fearfully as her hand hovered up to slide the door open. She swallowed again and lowered her hand, her courage gone.

Suddenly, a hand grasped the woman's shoulder, startling her. She quickly turned to admonish the intruder, but was stilled as her eyes met the calming blue of her husband's own.

Minato smiled sadly. "Kushina-chan, are you okay?"

Uzumaki Kushina nodded and looked to the ground despondently. "I'm fine. It's... It's just that it's his birthday."

The blonde man's smile shrunk. "You've been doing this every year since he was taken, what's wrong now?"

"He'd be nineteen today, one more year until he's a full grown man," Kushina spoke softly. "I had all sorts of plans for him. I was going to help him meet a nice girl from the village, maybe a kunoichi. I was going to plan his wedding. He was going to be energetic like me, but he would have your calm and genius. I... I just..."

Minato embraced his wife in a tight hug as she began to cry into his Hokage robes. He gently rubbed her back as he ran a hand through her silky hair. "I know you did. I had my own plans for him to. He was going to be the best shinobi this village would ever see, even greater than all four of the Hokage's put together. Then, I was going to make him Godaime, and let him change the world."

Kushina nodded and rested her head against her husband's chest. "I would just want what was best for him, but I'd let him choose his own path in life. I wonder... how's he'd turned out. You know... if he's still..."

"Don't talk like that," the blonde admonished his wife as he grasped her shoulders, moving her from his chest so he could stare into her eyes. "He's still alive. He's our child, after all. Against all odds, he will survive and live, no matter what."

The redhead nodded again, agreeing with him. She looked to the door and swallowed her doubts. "Then I will continue do this every year, until the day he comes home to us." She placed her hand on the door and was about to open it when Minato's own hand overlapped hers.

"We'll continue it together," the Fourth said as he smiled down at his wife.

Kushina nodded, and together they slid the door open...

**:::::::::  
****Tazuna's House**  
_Present Day, Morning_  
**:::::::::**

Red eyes opened staring at the ceiling for the second time that morning as Naruto rose to a sitting sitting position, his yukata draped around his elbows, revealing tanned and scarred skin that glistened with sweat in the morning sunlight. The blonde sighed as he rubbed the mucus and sleep from his eyes, trying to fully wake up.

He had been lucky when he had fallen back to sleep, a completely dreamless sleep. He cherished that, as it tended to be the most rest he ever got, aside from falling unconscious. He removed his covers and stood, revealing the pair of black pajama bottoms he wore. He may be a murderer along the massive scale, but he liked his comfort.

Readjusting his yukata back over his shoulders, the blonde stepped over to his sword, which was lain on top of his folded hakama. He stared down at the clothing, wondering just who folded the trousers. How the pants were folded was exactly like what was taught in bushidou.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He hated bushidou. It was a coward's law. One should never stop fighting, never give up, not until his opponent's were dead... or he was. Such was the way of true honor.

The blonde shook himself out of his reverie. Sighing, he picked up his sword and clothing, deciding he needed to clean himself before he left to Konoha.

**:::::::::**

Sasuke grinned as he stared at his reflection in the mirror of the bathroom he was in, a pair of incomplete Sharingan eyes staring back at him. There was two tomoe in one eye and just one in the other, but it mattered not to the raven haired boy. As long as he had these eyes, he would be able to become even stronger than he already was, possibly even stronger than _him_.

A soft whisper spoke indistinguishable words in his mind. Sasuke paid it no heed, too excited with his eyes. He had awoken a day ago and had learned that he had been out for two days due to severe chakra exhaustion and that Natsuko was still alive, only put into a death-like state by the fake hunter-nin. That day, he stayed in bed, his body too tired to even sit up, and he tried to piece together his battle with the hunter-nin, to try and keep _that_ from happening to Natsuko or even Sakura for real. But it was the strangest thing. He couldn't remember anything past his blonde haired teammate 'dying'.

The Uchiha knew one thing for sure, though. He was never going to let anyone close to him die ever again, fake or not. He instinctively knew he wouldn't be able to carry the guilt, knowing that if they were with him, he would think himself the killer, just because he couldn't protect them, just like...

'_No!'_ Sasuke thought to himself forcefully, his eyes visibly hardening with absolute resolution. _'I will not __**ever**__ let that happen again. With these eyes, my training, and my own resolve, I will protect everyone close to me... and I __**will**__ kill _him_.'_

A sudden knock on the bathroom door broke the boy from his thoughts. "Just a moment," Sasuke said loudly as he collected his toiletries and discarded clothing. Tying his forehead protector around his head and opening the door, the raven haired boy found himself staring into the half-lidded red eyes of Naruto.

Gulping, Sasuke stepped aside, letting the blonde man into the bathing room. "G-Good morning, Naruto-san, how are you?"

"Hn," the blonde grunted as he lazily stepped into the bathroom, muttering something about 'His Highness', whoever that was, and slammed the door in Sasuke's face.

The teenager blinked. "Well, that was rude." He couldn't get over how much that seemed like something he would do, especially if it were to one of his rabid fangirls. The Last Uchiha suppressed a shudder at that thought. Those girls, and a few of the boys too, were the monsters from his nightmares, constantly haunting him. He actually shuddered this time.

Clearing his mind of his fright, the boy stood straight and walked down the hall to the dining room for breakfast, not so anxious to return home all of a sudden.

**:::::::::**  
**The Finished Bridge**_  
Several Hours Later_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto stood dressed in his usual attire along with Zabuza and Haku on the hill leading to the bridge as the Konoha Ninja said their goodbyes to the people of the Wave, who had come to send off the true 'savior's' of the country. The blonde's flaxen hair was swept up as a gentle breeze blew through the trees, shadowing his unmasked face.

Zabuza looked to the man curiously as the blonde watched the men and women cheer for their heroes, Kakashi's Genin soaking the attention up. "Why aren't you taking the credit for this?"

The swordsman looked to the other for a moment before turning back to the spectacle before him. "Why aren't you taking credit for killing Gatou?"

Snorting, the darker skinned man looked to the farewells as well. Haku looked up at her master, wondering the same thing as the blonde. "I'm not taking the credit cause that was fun and it needed to be done. Gatou was nothing but a rat bastard and deserved what he got. I don't want to celebrate what needed to be done."

"Heh, I couldn't agree more," Naruto spoke as he closed his eyes, his lips quirking up slightly. He opened his eyes and looked up into the skies above. "There is honor in death, as long as it is another who takes your life away and it isn't by your own hand. But scum like Gatou was do not deserve such an honor, and as such, a celebration for his death would be a waste when one could mourn and celebrate the lives taken and saved from the tyrant."

Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages, a mirthful chuckle escaping his throat. "You're very insightful for a killer."

Naruto just grunted in his throat as he watched the Leaf ninja approach them, their send off finally over.

"Uh, if you think that way Naruto-san, why didn't you protest the festival that the Wave's people put together?" Haku asked, curious to know how the blonde enigma thought. One of the things Zabuza impressed upon the kunoichi was to read both her enemies and allies body language and their tone of voice, as to learn more of the person. But Naruto was just blank, a lazy expression always on his face that just seemed to laugh 'I know something you don't and I'm never going to tell you'.

The man looked down, drawing the two ex-Kiri ninja's gazes. "I didn't protest, because I can understand why they did it and I can only hope the best for them in the end. It is like Konoha celebrating the defeat of the Kyuubi no Youko, it is to help ease the pain of loss and to inspire the young." Naruto let out a long, tired sigh. "I'm sorry, talking about something like this only brings up memories I'd rather forget."

Haku nodded as the Konoha Nin joined the group, understanding the underlying meaning: 'I don't want to talk about this with them here.'

Kakashi ran his singular eye over the three quizzically before 'eye-smiling' at Naruto. "Ah, Naruto-san, do you have our payment for Team Seven's completed mission... you did say you would pay it after all."

"Aren't I supposed to pay at the Leaf's Administration Building, Kakashi-san?" Naruto inquired laxly.

The silver haired jounin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, though it was rather hard to tell with his mask covering his face. "Oh, yes, that's right."

The blonde smirked slightly. "Well, then what are we waiting for. I want to get to the Leaf before the day is over."

Anko grinned at the statement, her first real grin of the morning. It looked somewhat like a snake mixed with a fox. "Alrighty then! Let's go!" And with the hearty exclamation, the group set off down the path, never noticing a pair of sickly yellow eyes watching them as they left.

**:::::::::**  
**Namikaze Mansion**  
_Seven Months Ago, October Tenth, 10:23 p.m._  
**:::::::::**

Multiple flashes of brightly colored light lit the room as the annual fireworks display, the main attraction of the Kyuubi Festival, exploded in a shower of heated illumination above the Leaf Village. With one of the luminous explosions, one could see a small futon that sat upon a redwood frame in the corner of the room, layered with small stuffed animals and children's toys.

Another flash and one could see a mahogany dresser next to a door leading to a small closet, an academy student's first set of kunai and shuriken sitting atop the wood.

With a final flash of light, one could make out a medium-sized ebony desk, where upon sat a singular picture of three people: a blonde man, a woman with red hair, and a boy with hair like the man's, like his father. There was a peculiar thing about the boy though. On each of his cheeks were three whisker-like marks, making him appear slightly feral as he grinned with his family.

These were some of the things that Minato and Kushina laid their eyes on as they entered the room, their lost son's room. Seeing the furniture their little boy had barely used brought a fresh wave of tears to the mother's eyes as she hugged herself into Minato, the blonde man's own eyes hardening as he tried not to weep himself. Memories of that night ran through his head and he could only admonish himself as a bad, worthless father to his son and an even worse husband, for making his wife bawl so.

"Are we good parents, Minato-kun?" Kushina squeaked hoarsely.

The Hokage looked down at the woman, confused. "What do you mean?"

Swallowing her sadness, the redhead clarified. "To Natsuko, are we good parents to her? Keeping her sheltered and watched, it can't be good for her, especially with how attention hungry she's become."

Minato smiled sadly. "Of course we are, Kushina, don't ever think otherwise. She may be rebellious, but deep down I think she understands we're just trying to protect her. Besides, every child hungers for attention, especially from their parents, and she knows we're both busy, but that we do try to be there for her."

The woman looked down sadly, but nodded nonetheless. She looked over to the picture on the desk, one of her son's many third birthday gifts. She was glad the Leaf had cameras and that there was such a thing as photographs, as they captured a moment in time and, if taken care of properly, would last forever. Seeing such happiness on her first child's face brought a small smile to her own. "D-Do you think he'll accept us when he comes back? Will he... forgive us? Or are we completely beyond forgiveness?"

Hugging his wife closer to him, the blonde man kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. "Honestly, I can't answer that. All I can say is that I think he will accept us as his parents and family and that he will forgive our shortcomings. He may not want to speak with us, but I believe he wants us as much as we want him, even if it takes him some time to realize this."

"You think so?" Kushina asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I do," Minato replied with a smile as the redhead looked up to him with a smile of her own before they shared a sad kiss, regret and sorrow still tugging at their hearts, at their very souls...

**:::::::::**  
**Outside the Hidden Leaf's Gates**  
_Present Day, Afternoon_  
**:::::::::**

"Ahahahaha! Yeah! It's good to be home!" Natsuko cheered excitedly as she entered the village. She turned and stared at her traveling companions. "Don't you think? Huh, huh?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at the excitable girl, not surprised that girl was happy to be home. "Yes, yes, it's nice to be back, Natsuko-chan." He looked at all three of his charges. "I'm going with the other jounin to be debriefed, so you three have the rest of the day to yourselves. But I'm going to give you a warning," he said, his gaze turning violent as a fraction of his murderous intent leaked from his eye.

"You three were absolutely pathetic on this mission. So, that's why I've decided I'm going to put the three of you through Hell." He cheerily smiled with his eye as he gave them all a 'thumbs up' with his right hand. "Now, run along and remember, training starts tomorrow at six sharp." He turned to the others as the genin left shakily, though Sakura still had the courage to repeatedly ask Sasuke for a date. Kakashi's single eye was half-lidded as he gazed at the others lazily. "Shall we report to the Hokage, then?"

As the two kunoichi nodded, Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku, throwing the latter a wad of rolled up ryou bills. "You two, go find yourselves somewhere to stay for a couple months at least. I'm going to go with the jounin and meet the Hokage. He may know something I need to know."

Haku nodded as Zabuza looked at the wad of bills and then to Naruto, bewildered. "What the hell? Why'd you give her the money for?"

"Because I trust Haku-chan to not spend it on booze and do as her employer asks, Zabuza-san," Naruto answered as he turned to follow the jounin, ignoring Zabuza's indignant retort, but did notice the blush that the brunette girl sported when he added the honorific to her name, though he paid it no thought. "I'll meet up with you two later this week, after I've done some research."

Master and apprentice nodded and left to find somewhere to live as the blonde ronin used a quick Sokudo to catch up to the jounin, instinctively ignoring the stares and whispers of the Leaf villagers.

"Say, Naruto-kun?" Anko suddenly asked, wearing a curious look on her face.

"Hmm? Yes, Anko-san?" The swordsman asked as he looked to the purple haired special jounin.

The woman brought a finger to her chin as she took a good look at the man's face before looking to the mountainside that loomed over the village where four faces watched over the town, almost... protectively. "I don't get it, you look so much like the Fourth Hokage. I mean, there's almost an uncanny resemblance between the two of you, that if I were to guess, you could be his son."

"She has a point, Naruto-kun. You do look a lot like Minato-sama," Kurenai agreed as Kakashi nodded his own agreement.

Naruto looked over to the mountain and stared at the faces there, though the fourth and last face carved into the earthen wall caught his interest. A sudden pain shot through his head, making him stop in mid-step and clutch his skull. Distorted and unclear images flashed before his mind's eye. Bursts of bright colors glared through his shut eyes before fading into a hazy black and as suddenly as the migraine had hit, it faded to nothing, leaving Naruto dazed as he stared confusedly at the odd expressions the Konoha Jounin and villagers wore at his abrupt halt.

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" Kurenai asked, worry apparent in her voice.

The blond just waved his hand nonchalantly as he recovered. "I'm fine, Kurenai-san. I was just... remembering something." _'Was that really a memory though, or was it something else. I need to meet this Hokage. He might have the answers I need.'_

**:::::::::**

A few minutes after Naruto recovered, the group of four was making their way through the inside of the Hokage Tower, up towards the Hokage's Office. The blonde swordsman could not help but notice that he was gaining a lot more stares inside the building than he had outside of it, though the curious gazes mostly came from the ninja half of the tower's staff. But, he could tell they were not staring at his sword, they were staring at his face, whispering to each other about something.

"_Is it him?"_

"_Could it really be?"_

"_Has he finally returned to us? Thank God!"_

Naruto tried not to pay much attention to the whispers, but still, the man had to wonder just what the men and women were talking about. Looking up in front of him, the blonde found himself in front of pair of oaken doors, on which Kakashi knocked four times.

"Enter," a voice called out from the room hidden by the passageway. The doors opened and the four stepped inside.

**:::::::::**

The Fourth Hokage had been having a lousy day. First and foremost, he missed his daughter and her silly pranks. He didn't know if he could take another day without seeing the bubbly, excited girl who was so much like her mother, that the only way he knew she was his child was by her blonde hair. Second had been a meeting with the Council about the upcoming Chuunin Exams, the old windbags droning on about something or other. And finally now, he was stuck with paperwork.

A sudden knocking on his office's doors drew Minato from his dreary thoughts. "Enter." The doors opened and three people he had expected to see sometime time later this week walked in, making him close his eyes and smile. "Ah, Kakashi, Kurenai, Anko, I see your mission was a succ-!" Minato had opened his eyes and found someone with the three jounin that he hadn't expected.

Blonde hair, black samurai-style clothes, long, black sword strapped to his back, sans a black, canine-like mask. Minato was on his feet in an instant. "Guards!"

Several quick blurs shot into the room and came to a rest surrounding the blonde swordsman, four standard ANBU swords pressed into his neck. The blonde man only stared at the older flaxen haired man, as if his life was not on the line.

Minato glared at the swordsman angrily. "You... You are the Devil of the Flood, correct?"

"That assumption is correct. Would I be right to assume you are the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, Namikaze Minato?" The trapped man asked halfheartedly.

The Fourth sighed. "That's right, I am. Now," he walked around his desk and up to the swordsman. "I want to know..." he stopped midsentence as he took a closer look at the slightly taller man's face, where there were three whisker-like marks on each cheek, features that weren't very common on normal humans. It couldn't be, could it? "N-Naruto?"

'Naruto' looked at the man curiously. "That's my name, what of it?"

It was him. Both happiness and regret entered Minato's soul, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as he stared at the other blonde. This man... was his son, who had finally returned to him. His son... was the infamous Oomizu no Majin, a mass murderer who held no remorse for those he had slain. A tear fell from the older man's eye in melancholy as he stepped backed and leaned against his desk. "Y-You... are Uzumaki Naruto."

Those in the room who heard the whispered name looked to the blonde swordsman, shocked at the revelation, though Naruto just stared at the Hokage. "I have already told you that that is my name. Is there something wrong with that?" Naruto's eyes suddenly widened as the ANBU who were so close to decapitating him removed their swords from his neck and bowed down on one knee. The blonde looked around, taken aback by the sudden tension in the air. "W-What the hell is going on?"

Kakashi, who had already known who Naruto was, clarified for the blonde. "Naruto, you... you are the Lost Son of the Leaf. You are the son of Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto felt a pang in his chest and his mind as his eyes widened. Shaking, he looked slowly over to the Fourth, noticing for the first time how similar they looked. His eyes narrowed. "You... You are my true father?"

The Hokage could only give a sad, curt nod. "Y-Yeah... son."

"I guess I am," Naruto spoke softly, thoughts racing through his head. "But, w-who is my mother?"

A sudden knocking at the door brought the office's occupants attention to a red haired woman standing in the threshold of the room, confused as to what was happening. "W-What's going on in here? Minato-?" Her voice hitched as she looked at the other blonde man in the room, staring at the whisker marks that gave his identity away almost instantly. "N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked to the woman and stared at her form for a moment, another pang stabbing in his chest and mind, this one much more painful than the last. "M-Mother?" He questioned before he feel to his knees as the same migraine as from before lanced through his head, feeling like something was trying to slice his brain in half. The images flashed through his mind once more, clearer than before yet still distorted and indecipherable. The black haze that was the color of his forgotten memories began to churn violently, eliciting a cry of pain from the blonde as he slammed his head into the wooden floor, trying desperately to make the pain leave.

He screwed his eyes shut, a blinding pain bursting through his ocular organs. And then as suddenly as the pain had come, it was gone, just like before. Naruto opened his eyes and stood, confused. He was no longer within the Hokage's Office, standing before his mother and father. No, now he was in a dank and dark hallway, the only light coming from small, fire-lit lanterns that hung above the dungeon-like passageway.

Adjusting his eyes slowly to the ambient lighting, the blonde looked around at the damp walls of the tunnel that were lined with broken red and blue pipes, though larger pitch black pipes spread over the broken ones like spider webs, keeping the metal tubing from falling to the ground. Looking down, Naruto found himself staring at nasty green water that had bits and pieces of humans floating in what looked like blood.

"Ugh, where the hell am I?" Naruto asked to no one particular, not really expecting anyone to answer. So he was moderately surprised when something did.

_**You're in a domain created by your mind.**_

It was that beautiful voice from before. Though this time it sounded much louder than the first time it spoke to him, the sound of the voice echoong off the sewer's walls.

"You... Who are you? Why am I here?" Naruto questioned sternly, his eyes narrowed angrily.

_**If you come to me, I will explain all that you wish to know.**_

There was a small flash of light further down the tunnel that Naruto could barely make out. Deciding it was better than nothing, the blonde dashed down the sewer, the disgusting water splashing behind him as he ran atop its surface.

After what felt like hours of running, Naruto could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had always thought that it would have been a whitish-gold color, not blood red. Thinking nothing of it, the swordsman ran straight into it. He felt a strange tingling feeling course through his person as he was blinded by the vermillion light.

A moment later, the blonde found himself in a large room that was lit by a large fire-lit chandelier and several torches that rested on the three whole walls, casting a depressing, ominous red-orange glow around the room. For some odd reason, the fourth wall, the one Naruto was facing, was a titanic cage that was held together by a small piece of paper that had the kanji for 'seal' inscribed upon it.

Naruto cautiously began to walk toward the cage as a gentle, hot breeze swept his hair and coat up behind him, his hakama rippling in the wind as well. As the gust died down, Naruto narrowed his eyes trying to see if there was something within the cage. "Is someone in the-!" His voice died in his throat as he saw a silhouette of something large and animalistic behind the bars of the cell that trapped the being.

_**Ah, so we finally get to meet eye to eye,**_ the melodious voice spoke as a giant, glowing blood red eye opened from within the cage, staring down at Naruto, whose own red eyes had widened. _**I'm glad, especially that you are so handsome and strong. I wouldn't have a container who is ugly and weak,**_ suddenly, the inside of the cell lit with fire, revealing a gigantic fox-like monster with furious red fur and nine waving tails. The fox grinned widely down at the blonde as recognition entered his eyes.

_**Wouldn't you say the same, Love?**_

* * *

**Translation(s):** Bushidou - Way of the Warrior. It is the law of honor and chivalry that all samurai follow. In this story, Naruto follows only a few of bushidou's tenets, like being chivalrous. He believes though that man is his own master, and that he should follow no one but himself. He also believes that honor only comes through death by anothers blade, where as bushidou states that honor can be attained and regained through ritualistic suicide (seppuku). He believes one's own honor is attained by the slaying of others. His beliefs have led him on the path of death he follows.

Ronin - A wandering samurai who serves no one at the time.

**Techniques:** _None used_

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** Okay that's it for this chapter, so good job reading it. Now again, a few things:

_One:_ I feel that this chapter was kind of rushed and deserves some more polish, but, meh, whatever, I'm too lazy.

_Two:_ I also feel that all the 'sad' scenes weren't adequate and that the revelation scene wasn't heartwrenching and tearjerking, like I had wanted it to be. I don't really care, though, as I'm not one for drama and suspense, more action is better I say. Tell me what you think about it.

_Three:_ The moments Naruto had the migraines were him seeing something familiar and trying to remember it, but since whatever happened when he was three locked away his memories, it's painful for him to see the memory as it was.

_Four:_ Now, so all of you know and can go 'I soooooo saw that coming', **_this_** voice is the Kyuubi, who was just revealed and their meeting was left at a clifhanger. Aren't just a bad little boy? I think I need a spanking... Wait a minute! Put down that whip! Nooooo! Not the Fox O' Nine Tails! NOOOOOOOO!

Yeah, I need to take my meds, obviously. But, the doctor had said I was a little too depressed. Oh well, whatever. I was going to write a short little omake, but I decided not to. If you want to read it, tell me in your review, though I'm sure it would be very funny. It's just something that would've happened during the Wave's Festival. Whatever, I'm outta here.

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	7. All Nightmare Long

**Disclaimer:** I own it_ all_. Keep telling yourself that Risen, it might just come true. *****Snorts***** Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen.

**Author's Note:** What's up all? Next chapter of _The Devil's Blade_ here for your enjoyment. Again, it is filled with explanations, though there is a fight scene. Oh, and Naruto's sword's name is revealed. So go ahead, read on and enjoy. One more thing, this wasn't edited 'cause I'm tired and want to do something else, so whatever. I'll just edit it tomorrow or something.

Well, enjoy.

**

* * *

****The Devil's Blade**  
_An Epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By**_ RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

Three years before the Fourth Hokage's son was kidnapped, a more disastrous event occurred: The Kyuubi Attack. Hundreds of lives were lost, but the most important life lost was the then Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who sacrificed his soul to the Shinigami to 'kill' the tailed beast. This, however, is a lie.

Though the Sandaime did sacrifice his life and soul, he did not kill the Kyuubi no Youko, as that would be impossible, but sealed it away into a newborn child. The child's identity was kept secret, a decree established by the newly instated Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, a decree that if broken meant immediate execution.

The Kyuubi attacked two days after successful peace negotiations with the Village of the Hidden Cloud, October Tenth. This day was also the day of birth of the Fourth's lost son, Uzumaki Naruto. What provoked the Kyuubi into attacking is not known.

**:::::::::  
****Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::  
**Chapter 7  
_All Nightmare Long_  
**:::::::::**

"Y-You... You are the Kyuubi no Youko, aren't you?" Naruto asked, stunned by the magnificent creature before him. He had never known nor guessed that such a beast could be inside him.

The Kyuubi only chortled at the title. _**Yes, that is one of my titles, but, it isn't my name.**_

Naruto schooled his appearance as the shock wore off rather quickly. "What is your true name then?"

_**You aren't ready to hear that, little devil.**_ The Kyuubi answered though her maw never moved.

The swordsman's eyes narrowed slightly at the insult, but remained calm. "You said everything would be explained if I came to you, so start talking."

Grinning, the fox nodded its head approvingly. _**Straight to the point, I like that. Now, where to start...?**_

"You could try from the beginning, like how you came to be stuck inside my mind," Naruto suggested, not amused with the Bijuu trying to dodge his question.

_**Heh, alright then,**_ Kyuubi lifted her head and began to ponder. _**Well, it happened on the night you were born. You were weak and unsubstantial then, but then again, appearances can be deceiving. An old monkey stepped up when I attacked and used that thrice damned seal to imprison me within your mind, though truly we are where your chakra pool used to be. I must say, you could even be a match for me with your sword and reiatsu.**_

Naruto bowed at the compliment. "Well, that explains how you're here, but what about my memories? Even if it is difficult for one to remember things as early as being born, my memories... are just not there, like they were erased, or locked away."

The Kyuubi nodded. _**Yes, I suspect something like that did happen, but, unfortunately, I don't have the answer for that. But I do have an answer for something else that you are thinking.**_

"You mean... you know who 'his Highness' is?" Naruto asked. For some reason, he felt that whatever this being was, it had something to with him.

_**Yes, I guess you could say I know 'who' he is, or rather, 'what' he is,**_ the fox said as she stared down at the man.

"What do mean by 'what'? Is he not a being of this world, like you, made completely of nature?" the blonde questioned.

The Kyuubi looked down to the nasty, slimy ground, almost solemnly. _**He is a being not like me, made completely of chakra. He is divinity itself, a being that has defied death his whole life. You were right when you thought that a powerful being was imprisoned within those ruins. His Highness is like that of a God.**_

"I don't believe in Gods," Naruto stated forcefully.

Chuckling, the fox continued. _**Neither do I, but that doesn't mean that I don't believe there are beings of power in this world, you and I perfect examples of this methodology. But, still, this 'Highness' is not something that should be taken likely, nor those that follow him.**_

"You mean that there are others like him, beings of complete power?" Naruto asked, his eyes slightly widened at the revelation that there were more that followed 'his Highness'.

_**Yes, there are at least three others that are like his Highness, though all four are not complete, still incomplete.**_ The beast explained. _**These four call themselves Gods and there are most likely thousands, if not millions, who would pledge their lives to these 'Gods', and would willingly die if it furthered the goals of the four.**_

Naruto narrowed his eyes in silent contemplation. "Then that would mean there are more monsters like Akihiro out there, following these things?"

_**Yes, many more. You need to know, that these four beings have been alive, even before your forebear, Oda Nobunaga,**_ Kyuubi answered, looking to Naruto with curiosity in her eye.

The blonde looked down to the ground, his mind racing. The fox looked around the chamber as she heard Naruto's voice, his thoughts echoing off the walls of the dungeon. Naruto looked up again and stared into the Kyuubi's blood red eyes for a moment, as if trying to look into the beast's soul. "You... are a very old being, but you are still only considered young, too young to wield the power you have. You have seen and done things that would make others sneer and retch. You are considered a demon from the very pits of Hell, yet... there is still something in you that others would claim is human. You and I... are the same."

The fox only stared back at the blonde before snorting and breaking into mirthless laughter that Naruto could compare to tinkling chimes. _**You have a very rare and powerful gift, Uzumaki Naruto. This gift to read people... no, to read any living being by just looking into their eyes, it is something the humans called shinobi should have.**_ A bright red light burst from the Kyuubi's cage, surrounding the monster within. Naruto grunted as he brought an arm to block the illumination from his eyes. _**You will go on to do many great things with your life. I am pleased that I will have a front row seat for the show and for that, Uzumaki Naruto I will tell you... my true name.**_

Naruto lowered his arm and felt his eyes widen at what he laid witness to within the prison of the Kyuubi no Youko.

_**My true name...**_

**:::::::::**  
**The Hokage's Office  
**_Ten Minutes after the Reunion_  
**:::::::::**

"Damn it!" Minato exclaimed as he slammed his fist into his desk. He ignored the pain in his hand and looked up, staring into the eye of his only remaining pupil. Kakashi was as lazy as ever, his façade not showing a thing in his body language. His wife and the two other jounin had gone along with his personal guard, who had taken his returned son, Naruto, to the hospital after he started bashing his head into the floor and fell into a sudden coma. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

The grey haired jounin sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I found out back in Wave. If he had wanted to though, I think Naruto wouldn't have revealed his identity to any of us for as long as he wanted. But, then again, I don't think he expected you to be his father."

"That's just it," Minato said angrily as he leaned back in his chair. "He should remember me, Hell, he should remember Kushina more than me, but he didn't seem to remember either of us."

"I don't know what to say sensei," Kakashi spoke as he sat in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk. "Maybe when he wakes up, you could have a proper conversation with him, like a father to his son."

The blonde man frowned. "You're probably right, but, there is still the matter that my own son is a mass murderer. I can't... I can't help but feel that I am responsible for that."

"Like you did after the Uchiha Massacre?" the Jounin questioned.

Minato nodded. "Yeah... I still feel guilty for that whenever I see Sasuke. If I hadn't ordered Itachi to kill them or if I had only stopped just the rebellious ones... perhaps he would understand that it had to be done."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "But it _did_ have to be done, sensei, Itachi said so himself. Besides, he was only doing what was best for Konoha. Sasuke will come to realize this once he's old enough to feel that honor."

"Honor?" Minato snorted. "What the Hell do we know of honor, Kakashi? There is no honor in what we do, there is no honor in stabbing our own in the back, and there is no honor in being _just_ a tool. I realized this a long time ago. We as shinobi forsook our honor when we put on our hitai-ate. All shinobi know this."

"B-But, sensei...?" Kakashi began, but was stopped as the blonde raised a hand.

"I know, I know, I am aware of the hypocrisy in my statement, Kakashi. It doesn't matter though, that is only to incite strong feelings of pride in our current soldiers and our soldiers to be," Minato explained. He leaned forward and rested his chin on folded hands. "Sometimes, I wonder. If not for our earlier years when samurai ruled and the Rokudou no Sennin was just beginning his life, would we really be called ninja? As it is now, we are nothing more than mercenaries slinging around supernatural power."

Kakashi looked contemplative for a moment. "I... I can't answer that sensei."

"I know you can't, and didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?" Minato reprimanded with fake anger in his voice, a small smile on his face.

Kakashi's eye smiled. "Um... sorry?"

**:::::::::**  
**Konoha General Hospital**  
_One Hour after the Reunion_  
**:::::::::**

A man with black hair and dark green eyes wearing a white doctor's coat sighed as he looked at the papers clipped to the clipboard in his hands as the Hokage's wife and two other kunoichi looked down sadly at a blonde man that ANBU had suddenly brought in. "As far as I can tell, Uzumaki-sama, there isn't much wrong with him physically, besides the head trauma, of course. But my chart's and med-nin readings are telling me that there is serious mental activity. I would say that his coma may last to tonight or may even span a year, I can't really tell."

"It's alright, Doctor Ashige," Kushina spoke as she watched her son sleep, the first time in sixteen years. "I'm just glad he has finally come back to me."

The doctor nodded. "If that is all Uzumaki-sama, I will come back in another hour or so to check on him."

"That's fine, go ahead," the redhead said, still not looking to the man, who bowed and left.

Anko stood and stretched. "Well, as fun as it is to watch blondie sleep, I'm pretty tired myself and I still have a report to write for Hokage-sama."

Kushina glanced at the purple haired woman awkwardly before turning back to her son. "Go ahead and go home Anko-chan, Minato-kun won't be expecting your report until the end of the week."

The excitable woman cheered as she hugged the redhead. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I can go get a drink... you want to come with Kurenai-chan?"

"No, but thanks anyways Anko," Kurenai dismissed the proposal with a smile and a wave of the hand. "I think I'd rather stay with Kushina-sama for now."

"You don't have to do that Kurenai-san, I'll be fine by myself," Kushina spoke, though her eyes were locked on her son, committing his face to memory.

Kurenai just waved her hand again. "No, no, I couldn't just leave you here alone, Kushina-sama." The red eyed woman looked to Anko. "You go ahead Anko, I'll see you later."

The special jounin just shrugged her shoulders. "Meh, whatever you say. If you change your mind though, I'll be at the usual haunt." Anko rubbed her hands together as she left the room. "Now to get some sake!"

Kushina looked to Kurenai, who seemed to fidget under the woman's motherly gaze. "You didn't have to stay, you know?"

"I know, it's just that," the brunette started as she looked over to Naruto, whose head had turned during his sleep. "Naruto-kun shared with me some of his past, and not only that, but he saved me. I feel like I owe him my life for that."

The Hokage's wife began to giggle hysterically at the statement. Kurenai had to raise an eyebrow at the change in the woman's attitude. "Is there something the matter?"

Kushina shook her head as her giggling fit ended, leaving her panting for air. "No, no, it's... well... having my son finally come back, and to learn that he is already wooing ladies, it's just too much." And she began to giggle again as Kurenai blushed.

"W-What's... with all the noise?" A soft, gravelly voice asked from the bed, making both women look to Naruto, who had a hand rubbing his head. The man slowly sat up, wincing as his eyes caught the bright white light of the hospital. Suddenly, his eyes widened, showing his mother that they were as red as blood, like a demon's, like... "Kyuubi?"

Both women wore shocked expressions at the mention of the demon's name, though Kurenai was left wondering what the blonde meant, Kushina took on a saddened expression. Immediately after Naruto's exclamation his door was blasted open as ANBU rushed in, surrounding the swordsman's bed, and were followed in by the Hokage.

Minato looked around carefully, trying to spot any sign of the monster from nineteen years ago, but of course didn't. Looking over to his son's bed, he spoke. "Jounin Yuuhi, will you give Kushina and I some time alone with our son?"

Seeing no room for argument, Kurenai acquiesced to his request. "Yes, Hokage-sama." She stood and left while taking a glance at Naruto, who was looking down at his hands, most likely thinking something.

When the door shut, the Fourth turned to the other blonde, his ANBU guards ready to move on his command. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are to be arrested and held at a maximum security prison on the grounds of massive manslaughter."

Kushina's eyes widened as she looked to her husband. In an instant, she was in front of the man. "What do you mean he's to be arrested? He's our son damn it! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Minato sighed. "I've been asking myself that same question, but I have to do this. Naruto is the criminal and murderer known as the Devil of the Flood and the Thousand Man Slayer." He watched solemnly as his wife's eyes welled with tears, her body shaking from some emotion.

The redhead turned towards Naruto, who was still looking down, thinking. "Is this true? Are you... Are you really a killer of such infamy?"

Naruto looked up and into her eyes, staring as if he was reading her soul. "Yes... I am." This seemed to break the woman as she fell to her knees, a sobbing mess. Some kind of emotion ran through Naruto's body, but he paid it no heed as he looked to his father and stared into his eyes. The man's judgment was clouded by emotion, most probably a need to protect his son. "But isn't that the same thing you shinobi do... kill people you are told to. I am the same, except that I was looking for one strong enough to kill me.

"Though, if it eases your minds, the samurai I killed after that night, came to me, looking for a challenge. How they knew where I was, I will never know," Naruto explained. "Besides, you as a ninja do not have a say over me, a samurai. And even though I do not serve a master, the only people I could answer to would be all five of the Elemental Nation's Daimyo."

The Fourth was taken aback by the explanation. It was self-defense. He couldn't arrest anyone, especially not his son, who was just defending themselves. "But that doesn't explain why you all but slaughtered both the Nagatama Gang and the Black Earth Clan."

"The Nagatama Gang were sexually harassing several young women and I gave them a choice: leave with their lives or die. They chose the latter and I dealt judgment. There were two of your ninja there who witnessed everything," Naruto explained in a lax drawl. "The Black Earth Clan however... is another story. That day, I felt four energy signatures chasing after a weaker signature. The weaker energy signature was leading the four into a trap. For some reason, I felt I should give a helping hand. This led to what I think you've come to call as the Black Earth Incident."

"Then, I can't arrest you," Minato said after some time spent thinking. Kushina looked up to him with hope in her eyes. "Those two ninja you mentioned did something about you offering the Nagatama Gang a deal and if you hadn't killed the Black Earth Clan, well, this ANBU squad here would never have killed an assassin from Cloud and would probably be dead right now." The black ops soldiers bowed to one knee as Naruto narrowed his eyes, feeling for their energy signatures and recognized them as the same four who were chasing after ninja who saw after the explosion.

"We owe you our lives and our swords, Uzumaki-sama," one of the ANBU spoke, a kunoichi with long purple hair and a tattoo on her shoulder that signified that she was an ANBU Captain.

Naruto's eyes narrowed further. "Don't call me that, ANBU-san. Naruto will be fine, calling me by my surname makes me feel older than I am."

"As you wish, Naruto-sama," the kunoichi spoke, indifferent.

The swordsman snorted slightly as he looked to his parents. It was weird for him. He didn't know if he should trust them or kill them.

_**Trust them.**_ The Kyuubi spoke in his mind. Naruto didn't respond, but he was left wondering just why he had awoken before he could hear her name.

"So... you... are my parents, huh?" The blonde teen asked looking to the two as his father helped his mother to her feet.

The Hokage rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, yeah... I guess we are." Both smiled at their son, whose lips slightly twitched upwards.

"About earlier in your office," Naruto began, looking down to his metaphorically bloodstained hands. "I'm sorry I passed out... it's just that, when I saw you," he looked up to Kushina, "distorted images passed through my head and it brought unimaginable pain. I think... I think that my memories of the first three years of my life were either erased or locked away."

"By who?" Minato asked, concerned, Kushina nodding her agreement. Naruto seemed to think for a moment before looking at all the ninja in the room. The Hokage seemed to understand the gesture. "ANBU, set up a perimeter outside the room. No one is allowed in." The ANBU saluted before disappearing in lines akin to static as Minato and Kushina sat in the chairs around their son's bed.

Naruto nodded thankfully and settled his gaze on his parents. "I guess... that I can trust you with this," he spoke before sighing. "There is a very powerful being in this world who defies all logic and reasoning. He is eternal and is even more powerful than the Kyuubi no Youko, who I found is both sealed in me and for some reason in love with me."

"Is the Kyuubi... a guy?" Minato asked tentatively, hoping against hope his son wasn't...

The Fourth's son shook his head. "No, the Kyuubi is female."

Both Kushina and Minato were relieved by that and Minato felt both proud and appalled. Proud that his son was able to woo the strongest Bijuu and appalled because the one in love with his son was the _strongest Bijuu_. "So... you met the Kyuubi, huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto responded, "She's actually kind of nice once you've talked to her for a bit, that is if you don't mind looking up."

_**Ah, you're such a flatterer.**_ The Kyuubi intoned.

Naruto looked down sadly. "But, this being I mentioned, he... he thinks himself a God. And I believe that he was the one that orchestrated this whole mess."

The Hokage seemed to think about something for a moment. "What... what is this being? Does he have a name?"

"The only one that I know of... is 'his Highness'," the swordsman answered. "But, that isn't the worst part. There are at least three other beings like his Highness, but they are not as powerful, but almost as old, his Highness most likely being as old as time itself. And the scary part, is that all four 'Gods' have literal _hordes_ of followers, all most likely with power that is similar to my own."

"Don't you use chakra though?" Kushina asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I gave up chakra a long time ago, I think I was four. The energy I use is called reiryoku, my internal energy, and reiatsu, my external energy. It is, from what I've seen, a lot more potent than that of chakra. True samurai usually go through a process called Henkan, but, his Highness' followers have somehow overcome the three year wait and have spiritual energy far faster than anyone else."

"There has to be a weakness to that, right?" The Fourth questioned, curious about this energy his son used.

The swordsman nodded. "A major one that I've never seen before, though, I don't know how much of a weakness it really is. During Henkan, a samurai's chakra is converted to reiryoku and reiatsu, and the process lasts for three years. Throughout the process, a samurai must constantly train and meditate, so as to control their power. The meditation is actually for communicating with one's spirit.

"This spirit will live as their weapon of choice, hence why samurai only use one sword. The spirit of the sword will help you fight, granting one its power and knowing the name of your spirit is also beneficial as it would bring out a physical manifestation of the spirit, who will then help you fight, increasing one's own power tenfold, this in turn explains why we samurai seem to name our swords," Naruto explained. "But, these followers, I think that their spirit does not reside in their sword, but in their own bodies. And when they call on the spirit, they themselves turn into the physical manifestation of it. I've only seen one, so I could be wrong."

Naruto's parents seemed to be in a state of shock as they digested the information. "Does... Does that mean that you to have a spirit in your sword?" Minato asked as he looked over to a corner of the room.

The blonde swordsman followed his gaze and stared at his sword. "I do, but I wasn't the one that created her."

"Her?" His mother asked, wondering if these spirits have genders.

"Yeah, _her_," Naruto answered, looking longingly at the nodachi.

"Does she have a name?" Kushina questioned with a smile, Minato smiling as well.

Naruto nodded with a slight smile of his own. "Yeah, her name is..."

**:::::::::**  
**Konoha General Hospital**  
_Five Hours Later_  
**:::::::::**

A woman with light blue hair dressed in a nurse's outfit walked down the empty halls of the hospital, a slight smirk on her pale face. She stopped at a door that was blocked off by ANBU, her destination.

She showed the two men her I.D. card and smiled. "The doctor sent me to make sure he's everything is normal." The two ninja nodded and opened the door for. "Well aren't you two just a pair of gentlemen." Her smile grew slightly as the two stayed indifferent to her flirting. "Ah, you both are no fun at all."

Once the ANBU shut and sealed the door, the woman's smile grew sinister as she faced the sleeping form of Uzumaki Naruto, her target. Her pink eyes glinted in the moonlight evilly as she stepped up to the blonde man's bed and sat on the edge. "You are a hard man to find, and from what I hear... an even harder man to kill," she spoke as she unzipped her top part way, showing a more than generous amount of her ample bosom. She reached into her blouse and pulled out a sheathed wakizashi that was missing its tsuba.

She unsheathed the blade, throwing the wood to the side of the room and began to stroke the side of Naruto's face. "It's too bad Master wants you dead, you would be a fun plaything, Naruto-kun. It doesn't matter anymore. The Master wants you dead and since that creep Akihiro was too much of a pussy, it looks like I'm the one who gets the honor of slaying the Manslayer." The woman brought her short sword into the air and then stabbed Naruto... who then melted away into nothing.

The assassin looked shocked before black steel met her throat. "You know, if you were a good assassin, you wouldn't have spent so much time talking and would've killed me before I had the chance to create that clone."

Looking to the side, the woman found Naruto, alive, in a set of white pajamas, the top left open revealing his chest. The woman then smiled and purred. "Oh, this is great. Now I really will get a chance to stretch my claws."

Naruto frowned at the statement before quickly bringing his sword from the woman's neck to his side, blocking a strike from another woman who looked exactly like the first woman: a clone. The assassin who he blocked faded to nothing as the one on the bed launched herself at Naruto, who dodged by jumping back and through the window to his rear.

The blonde was calm as he landed on the top of an adjacent building and brought his sword to a middle guard, catching the fake nurse's wakizashi in a deadlock. "Who the hell are you?"

The assassin smirked. "My name is Chuunaru Miyuki and I have come to kill you in the name of his Highness."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the proclamation as he threw the woman to the side and watched her land gracefully, like a cat. "Just as I thought, his Highness really wants me dead, huh?"

"You have no idea," Miyuki spoke with a smirk. She raised her sword and rushed Naruto, rapidly swiping at the man, who had trouble blocking the close ranges strikes, though he had no problem dodging.

Blocking another swipe, Naruto caught Miyuki in a deadlock. "Tell me, just who the fuck is his Highness?"

Miyuki's smirk grew into a devilish grin. "Why would I tell a dead man something so important?"

Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "Because you might have valuable information that I need and it would just be a waste to not get that information out of you before I kill you. Does that make any sort of sense to you?"

The woman frowned as she was blasted back again. "It does. It means that I have to step up my game if I'm going to turn you into chunks." Miyuki then rapidly began to slash her short sword, blades of hot pink reiatsu flying at the blonde who used Sokudo to evade.

"Well, that wasn't the answer I was looking for, but at least I know I shouldn't hold back on you," Naruto spoke as appeared behind the buxom assassin, his sword slicing her in half. "Shit," Naruto cursed as the clone faded away. He brought his blade up and blocked a flying kick that sent the blonde skidding along the roof and on thin air.

Miyuki's eyes widened as she witnessed the impossible feat. "H-How the hell are you floating on air?"

Naruto just stared at her lazily as he swung his nodachi around in lax circles. "If you had gone through Henkan training, you too would know how to do this, one of the simplest techniques."

"Are you mocking _me_, you fucker?" Miyuki suddenly yelled from the edge of the building.

"Why yes I am, I'm glad you were able to grasp that insult," Naruto spoke, his lax stare and drawl finally getting to the woman.

Miyuki growled as pink reiatsu spiraled around her in a triangular formation. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch, for his Highness." She grasped her wakizashi with both hands and cried out a name. "Manekineko!" She was then encased in the pink energy, much like Akihiro had been. The triangle cocoon shattered, revealing a humanoid, blue furred cat. The she-cat was now taller and had more defined muscles. Her outfit was shredded, leaving the assassin in torn pieces that covered nothing. Sprouting from her wrists were steel blue claws that stretched out at least sixty centimeters from her arms.

The she-cat snarled and quickly rushed at Naruto, who used another Sokudo to dodge Miyuki's swipes. The assassin landed on the side of the hospital using her claws and launched herself up the wall.

Naruto watched from his perch at the top of the building as the woman rapidly approached him. He leapt to his rear as assassin reached the apex of her climb, missing his head by just a few centimeters. Landing, the blonde moved his sword into a one-handed hanging guard. "That release of yours is pretty... unique," he said as he stared at her naked, furry form. He had to wonder for a moment why her skin had turned light blue as well.

Miyuki smirked, as much as a cat could smirk as she crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up further. "Why, thank you! I do like it and his Highness did bless me with a sexy, lean, feline form."

The blonde looked to Miyuki and stared into her pink eyes for a moment. "So his Highness can give you spiritual energy himself, huh? Interesting... now, why don't I show you... a true samurai's release." Black reiatsu suddenly began to spiral around Naruto, his eyes glowing with power. "Illuminate the Heavens, Amaterasu." The black energy around Naruto shot behind him and began to form a womanly figure behind him.

A black light shot from the blonde and forced Miyuki to cover her eyes to not be blinded. Looking up, the anthropomorphic cat felt her eyes widen. Behind Naruto was a vision of absolute divine beauty. The woman's black hair was very long and ornately styled and was dressed in a loose, ornate black and red kimono, her pale shoulders and an ample amount of cleavage bare to the world. Thick red tassels waved behind her with a large loop of the cloth hanging above her head like a sun. Around the woman's neck was black choker and set into her pale, beautiful, aristocratic face were a pair of glowing blood red eyes.

Miyuki was shaking in fear as both swordsman and spirit looked at her, both with glowing that shone in the darkness. "T-Th-That's a samurai's release?" It was getting harder to breathe, the woman realized as she fell to her knees.

"_Yes, it is,"_ both Naruto and Amaterasu spoke, the blonde's gravelly voice fused with the black haired spirit's soft, melodious voice. _"And now, we'll show you, monster, why we are supreme in this world and the next."_

The she-cat suddenly found herself in the air, flying over the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto and Amaterasu just faded behind the would-be assassin, his sword slashing her downwards. The samurai was there behind her again, sending the woman back up

Again and again this happened until Naruto finally stabbed her, his sword lancing through her fur, flesh, heart, and spine. She looked into the two pairs of merciless, supernatural eyes, and instinctually knew that she was as good as dead.

"_This is the end Chuunaru Miyuki. If there is a God you wish to pray to, do so now,"_ they said unison.

Miyuki just grinned. "I don't need to. When I'm dead, he will just send more of us after you until you are six feet under. Besides, we Akuryou never truly die, as we just return to his Highness."

"_Who is his Highness?"_ They questioned.

Miyuki smirked before spitting saliva mixed with blood in Naruto's face. "I'd rather die than tell you anything."

Both samurai and yuurei wiped their cheek, moving as one. _"So be it."_ Naruto threw the woman off his blade and towards the hospital as black lightning-like energy danced around him and his sword. Reiatsu whirled around the blade as a sphere of the black reiatsu formed at its tip. Amaterasu laid her hands on Naruto's shoulders and sphere's size doubled.

"_This is the end! Tensho-ryuu! Amaterasu Oomikami: Tenjitsu!"_ As soon as the attack was spoken, a large black beam of spiraling reiatsu shot from Naruto's sword, hitting Miyuki head-on, obliterating her as the beam blasted through the hospital destroying part of the building.

Naruto stood straighter, his nodachi at his side, the specter behind him mimicking his actions. "I think we went a bit overboard there, don't you think Amaterasu?"

The woman giggled slightly as she began to fade. _It might have been Naruto-kun, but she wouldn't have learned her lesson if you had held back._

"Yeah, you're right," the blonde agreed. He snorted to himself. "You're always right, my Goddess."

**:::::::::**  
**The Hokage's Office**  
_Four Days Later_  
**:::::::::**

Minato rubbed his head furiously as he looked at all the paperwork he had to do. It didn't help that villagers had witnessed his son flying and fighting a blue humanoid cat, or that the samurai had destroyed half of the hospital with a black beam of energy.

What the swordsman had been thinking, doing something like that over the village, he didn't know. What he did know was that his son had earned another title from the friendly neighborhood Elder Council: Mankind's First Disaster Walking. Oh, what fun it was to be the father of a man that could utterly destroy the village and everyone in it and not blink even an eyelash.

A sudden knock broke the overworked leader from his depressing thoughts. "Enter." He wasn't expecting the people who walked in however. "Ah, Naruto-kun... and you brought a couple of friends with you."

Zabuza grunted from Naruto's side as Haku blushed slightly from the other side. Naruto himself just looked bored, though there was a serious glint in his eyes. The swordsman sighed. "Father, you and I need to talk."

"About what?" Minato questioned, puzzled.

"The upcoming Chuunin Exams. With the recent assassin come to claim my life, I suspect there will be more, and with this... _exam_ coming, I've no doubt in my mind so too will something even more dangerous," Naruto explained.

The Hokage's eyes narrowed in thought. "Does this have anything to do with 'his Highness'?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

"Aright," Minato agreed as the three sat in front of him, "Let's talk."

* * *

**Tranlation(s):** Ashige - grey; Chuunaru - devoted; loyal: Miyuki - deep snow; Manekineko - beckoning cat;

Akuryou - evil spirit. These are the foot soldiers under his Highness. As their names imply, these beings are transformed by the reiryoku and reiatsu given to them. Their swords do not have spirits or yuurei, but instead the human himself becomes the spirit. Transformations vary and it is unknown how they come to be. It is theorized that a human who gains spiritual energy but does not undergo Henkan will transform into their yuurei, unlike a samurai, who will release a specter to fight alongside them.

Yuurei - phantom; specter; ghost; spirit. The physical manifestation of a samurai's sword and their. This specter will fight alongside the samurai, either physically or through lending power to the swordsman. It is said that there are three weapons that are not imbued with a samurai's own spirit, but with the spirits of Gods.

**:::::::::**

**Technique(s):**

**Name:** Naruto's Walking on Air Technique  
**Type:** No Rank, Supplementary  
**User(s):** Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description:** By focusing reiatsu under the feet, one can theoretically create a stable surface anywhere with enough traction to walk on, including air or water, as Uzumaki Naruto has demostrated.

**Name:** Tensho-ryuu! Amaterasu Oomikami: Tenjitsu! (Piercing Heaven Style! Sun Goddess: Sunlight!)  
**Type:** S-Rank, Offensive, Supplementary, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description:** This techniqueis used within the unique and ancient sword style Tensho-ryuu and in conjuntion with the ancient nodachi _Amaterasu_. After creating a sphere of pure reiatsu and charging the technique, Naruto can fire this attack in a straight powerful beam that can vaporize and destroy almost anything, including humans or use it as area-effect attack that knock away and blind enemies with a pure light. If used as a beam, this attack cannot be redirected after being used.

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** And that's it. Chapter over. Hope you enjoyed it. Oh, a couple things.

_One:_ I spent a generous amount of time on this and hope it is up to par, but, finally, next chapter ends all this pussy bullshit with feelings, emotions, and other crap like that, hopefully. I might have to eat my words, though, which'll suck of course, but, meh, whatever.

_Two:_ Yay, a little action scene which I feel was lackluster, but again, whatever.

_Three:_ The Kyuubi was revealed, but Naruto didn't learn her name. What we did learn was Naruto's sword's name. Yes, I know, I'm just copying the Sharingan's techniques, but actually I'm not. Once we get to it, _Amaterasu_ and the three unique weapons metioned above will come to play a major role in this fic, as they are going to be major plot devices to move the plot forward.

_Four:_ I know no one can guess what the Kyuubi's name is, if you can, you can fucking read minds over the internet and I want to know how, but, I want to see if anyone can get who his Highness is, and just who his Highness is, not the three like him. If you get it, well, pat yourself on the back. I don't care if it's in a review or a PM. I might be generous enough to give you a reward though, so, whatever. And as for a clue, he was in what this is a rewrite of. Yeah, now I get to watch you all spin around for awhile. Yay.

_Five_: To those saying 'update soon', listen, or read as it were. While I don't mind it in your reviews and I am not one of those review hounds, I would like it better if you wrote something about the fic, why you liked it, why you disliked it, whatever. I like hearing other's thoughts about this and I could improve, especially in the suspense/drama genre. Anyways, whatever, you can just ignore this if you want.

_Six:_ I have a Naruto/Bleach crossover idea that I've been working on for a little while. If you'd like to read it, tell me in your review, or vote once I put the poll up Saturday (Today) along with the title and the summary. It's going to be an Arrancar!Naruto fic, instead of the usual Shinigami!Naruto fics, though I think the former is steadily becoming popular. Well, whatever.

That's it, I'm out of here, sinners. If there is anything unexplained, ask me about it and I'll check it out and get back to you, unless I didn't explain it cause there needs to be mystery and something bringing you back for more. Alright, review and stay awesome.

'Til next time, RisenInfection, out


	8. The Flame of Youth

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_, but that doesn't mean I can't write and make it more badass than it is. Speaking of _Naruto_, have you guys seen the samurai's in the latest chapters? They look badass. If Kishi starts to break out some supercool jutsu that only samurai can do, I'm going to be beyond pissed. Meh, whatever.

**Author's Note:** Nothing much to say, other than this chapter feels like filler with some plot thrown in. This isn't edited, again, so if there's mistakes, well, whatever. No one got who his Highness was, but thanks to all those who tried. Even though he is kind of revealed, that's not his true name. Oh, and more thing if you're reading this, there is a scene with Naruto and Anko that might not belong there, but I was... just... whatever. Yeah.

One more thing. I got a review about the past two chapter titles. Yes, they are two tracks from _Metallica_'s _Death Magnetic_ album. I thought they were appropriate at the time, and I should've addressed that last chapter. This chapter, while I'm at it, is not for Gai and Lee, but a track by _DragonForce,_ who are an awesome band and the song is cool too.

Alright, that's enough of me talking. Read, review, and enjoy!

**

* * *

****The Devil's Blade**  
_An Epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By**_ RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

It's weird now. I don't know why it is, but, it simply is. I have met my parents. I have met the demon sealed inside me. The only one I haven't met yet is my little sister, Natsuko. She... is nothing like _her_. Just thinking of that brings memories I'd rather not have. But, I can't help but think 'What happened to her?' Is she alive? Is she living a life free of the burdens I have placed upon her? Or is she living in her hatred and anger, stewing in a cesspool of unending torture, brought about by one she thought brother, by one she thought she could give love to.

Love... What a ridiculous sentimental concept. It brings nothing to one but more hatred and anger, nothing but war and pain. Love for a home. Love for parents. Love for siblings. Love for relatives. Love for a lover. They say that this is the truest and grandest emotion one can feel. Then why is it, that I don't feel love. They say that one can become strong through love, but why are others strong when they forsake love? Why am I strong when I have to forsaken love?

No, it doesn't matter. I can feel love, when my life is over. I can feel love when I'm dead. But now, I mustn't feel anything, for there is something that requires my attention more than anything right now. His Highness. I have no idea who or what he is, and both his assassin's and the Kyuubi speak in riddles about him. But what I do know, is that he thinks himself a God. I hate gods, more than I hate dragons. They are selfish and malevolent, even when they try to appear as the opposite. Gods say that they are the only true power in this world, when all around us, there are men and women gaining power that could rival any God.

I don't need any God. I only need the Goddess in my hand, the Goddess in my head. _Amaterasu_. She is the only one I need. She accepts me for who I am, as I accept her for who she is. She and the Kyuubi, are all I need to survive in this world, for they both _love_ me...

**:::::::::  
****Act I**_  
The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::  
**Chapter 8  
_The Flame of Youth_  
**:::::::::**

"So, you're my older brother, huh?"

Naruto turned and stared into the eyes of Uzumaki Natsuko, his biological little sister. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Natsuko tried her hardest to glare at the blonde man in front of her, but only succeeded in looking childish. "You're a killer. I didn't see what you did to those bandits back in Wave, but what Sakura said was enough to make me hate you."

The swordsman kept his stare on the girl as some villagers began to crowd around, curious as to what was going on. "Do I look like I care if you hate me or not? No, I don't." Naruto turned and continued what he had been doing, looking for a mask to replace the one he lost. "You should grow up, Natsuko. One day, you will be forced to take another's life as well, if you're going to make a good kunoichi."

"No! You're wrong!" Natsuko cried out. "I'll never kill, never."

Naruto sighed. "Never say never, remember, you're a ninja, a trained killer, an assassin. It's in your job description to kill."

Natsuko shook her head as tears fell from her eyes. The thought of killing, like her so-called brother, sickened her. "No, I won't kill, I won't ever kill."

"You need to face the reality of the profession you've chosen, Natsuko," the killer spoke softly as he grasped a black fox-like mask. It was a facsimile of his old one, just polished better. It even had long white tassels to tie it. "Killing is all I know. It is what I grew in, a society of proud murderers. But just because I kill doesn't mean I enjoy it. I kill out of necessity, to protect myself and those close to me."

The blonde girl looked up to her brother as he stared at the mask in his hands. "'Those close to you'? You'd kill for them?"

Naruto didn't answer as his mind brought up the memories of _that_ night. "Yeah." He sighed. "I don't believe in this, but, if it helps you..." He stepped over to the shocked merchant, who had been watching the spectacle like one would a soap opera, and paid for his new mask. "Someone once told me... that when someone is precious to you, that you'll find the strength to do anything, just to protect them."

Natsuko's eyes widen as the memory of the bridge struck her. _'Like how I saved Sasuke.'_

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," the swordsman sighed tiredly before he donned his new mask, tying the tassels that billowed behind him. "You shouldn't dwell on the matter of killing right now, Natsuko. I don't believe father would want you to see the harsher aspects of a ninja's life just yet."

"Y-Yeah," the girl said distractedly. She turned to Naruto and looked to the ground. "U-Uh, N-Naruto... thank you."

The blonde looked at the girl, his head tilted to the side in confusion. "For what?"

Natsuko smiled. "For the advice, you know, about precious people."

"Tch, whatever," Naruto said as he turned and disappeared in a black and gold blur.

Natsuko's smile grew to a grin as she pulled out her Chuunin Exam entry form. It was decided. She was going to take the exams and protect all those precious to her... by becoming a Chuunin.

**:::::::::**  
**The Hidden Leaf Village**  
_An Hour Later_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto walked through the Leaf Village, watching as they rebuilt the hospital he had partially destroyed and as they prepared for the upcoming Chuunin Exams. He had told his father that something was going to go down during the exams and that he should warn his soldiers to the fact that something was going to happen.

The blonde sighed as he turned and walked down an alleyway. Both Zabuza and Haku were either out scouting for more of 'his Highness'' men or trying to find work to keep themselves from looking suspicious. How a one hundred and eighty three centimeter man with no eyebrows that was built like a linebacker could possibly look inconspicuous, Naruto would probably never know.

Naruto suddenly stopped as he felt a familiar presence behind him. "Anko-chan, shouldn't you be preparing for your role in the Chuunin Exams?"

The purple haired woman stepped out of the shadow she was hiding in with a frown. "How did you know I was following you so quick?"

"Your energy circulation is... unique. It feels erratic and often times dark and evil, though it isn't your natural energy," Naruto answered as he turned to the kunoichi and took his mask off. "Is there a reason why that is?"

Anko's hand shot to the nape of her neck, where a tattoo of three spiraling tomoe rested. _'That bastard, he's still able to ruin my life, even when he isn't here.'_ "N-No, not that I know of."

"You're a bad liar," the blonde stated simply as he stepped up to the woman and removed her hand from her neck. "Who did this to you?"

"My former master... Orochimaru," Anko answered after a few minutes of silence. "Why does it matter? It's just a stupid cursed seal anyway."

Naruto shook his head as he stared at the seal. "This mark, the energy it produces... is similar to the ones who are out for my head."

The woman turned her head to the man, her eyes wide in shock. "Does that mean, it has your reiryoku energy in it?"

"No," the blonde answered as he stared into Anko's hazel eyes, watching a lifetime of pain and suffering in only a few seconds. "It only produces chakra, but at the cost of your own body. If you were to accept the power it offers, you would become stronger, but it would morph you into a hideous creature and your own will would shatter, leaving you a puppet."

"Damn it!" Anko growled as her hands balled into white knuckled fists. "That bastard! No matter what happens, or any good that could come, he's always ruining it!"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "Didn't you go to the Fourth with this? I thought he was a seal master?"

The kunoichi looked down. "He is and I did, but, so far he can't seem to find anything to help, but he is trying. I... I would do anything to be rid of this goddamned seal. It hurts all the time and keeps me up some nights with the pain. And don't get me started on the nightmares." Tears were falling from her eyes as her cursed seal began to ache once more. "Look at me, I'm a fucking mess. I'm... I'm sorry."

And then Naruto did something that shocked both of them. He hugged her. Anko's eyes widened at the contact and felt her heart beating faster as a gasp escaped her lungs.

"I know what you feel inside. I could see it in your eyes and no matter how hard you try to guard what you feel, I'll still see it," Naruto spoke softly, trying to calm the woman down. He had only ever done this for _her_, but, that time was over now. He grasped the kunoichi's shoulders and pulled her away from his chest, not missing the pout she now sported at the loss of contact. "You said you'd do anything to be rid of your curse, right?"

Anko nodded and felt almost like a child looking up at an adult as she stared into Naruto's crimson eyes. "Yeah, I'd do anything, no matter what it was."

"Then you should go through Henkan," Naruto suggested.

"Y-You mean the same thing you went through?" The woman asked, slightly afraid.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, that. It is extremely painful, but I'll instruct you through it and help you all throughout."

Anko thought for a moment. "Would it get rid of this damn seal?"

"I can't answer that honestly, because I don't know. But it should as the process eliminates all chakra and converts it to reiryoku, most likely even your seal," Naruto answered. For a moment, he thought it would be nice to travel with another samurai, one almost like himself. "You don't have to go through it yet, only when you are ready to dedicate three years of your life to training.

Thinking it over and weighing the pros and cons of the decision, Anko smirked up to the blonde. "I'll do it, but not yet maybe a little while after the Chuunin Exams. But you have to do something for me."

"What is it?" Naruto questioned curiously.

The purple haired woman's smirk morphed into a mischievous grin as she launched up and embraced Naruto, capturing his lips with her own in a hungry kiss.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock at the woman's advancement, but soon found that he was enjoying the contact as he lifted her up by her thighs, Anko's legs wrapping around his waist. Their make out session lasted for another few seconds before they broke apart, a strand of drool connecting their lips.

Anko grinned as she stared at the dazed expression on the blonde's face. "You've got to that more often."

The samurai's smirked himself. _'I could get use to it, that's for sure,'_ Naruto thought before he met Anko's lips once more, ignoring strange yells and shouts of 'Gai-sensei' and 'Lee'.

"Ah, Young Love," a man in a green spandex suit with black hair in a bowl cut and extremely hairy eyebrows spoke to a younger clone of himself as they watched the romance between the scantily clad purple haired woman and the tall black garbed blonde man. "It's such a wonderful thing."

"Gai-sensei, do you think I will find love as they have?" The clone asked excitedly as he turned to his mentor.

Maito Gai turned to his pupil and knelt down as he put a hand on his shoulder, his bottom lip quivering. "Yes, Lee, one day you too will find love, as your Flames of Youth burn bright enough to attract all the precious flowers to you, or I shall do one hundred and fifty pushups with only my left pinky."

Rock Lee wore the same look as his father-figure and embraced him in a manly hug as the image of a sun setting over an ocean with waves crashing into a cliff appeared behind them. "Gai-sensei!"

Gai returned the embrace, crying a comical river of tears. "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-!"

"Will you idiots shut the fuck up?" A woman yelled from a window adjacent to the roof Gai and Lee stood upon.

Both of the green wearing ninja's bowed. "I am deeply sorry madam, my student and I let our Flames of Youth boil over and have disturbed your Springtime of Youth. We shall never let it happen again, or I shall-!"

"I don't care, just shut the fuck up!" The woman yelled, slamming her window shut with the end of her tirade, leaving the duo dazed and confused.

**:::::::::**  
**The Leaf's Forest**  
_A Few Hours Later_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto breathed a sigh of boredom as he leaned against a tree, his mask off. After Anko had been called to a meeting about the Chuunin Exams, he had gone and taken a walk through the Leaf Village. He wished now that he hadn't, as he met the accumulation of his worst nightmares given form: Maito Gai and Rock Lee.

He didn't actually meet them, but watching them hug, scared the living shit out of him, something he was supposed to do himself. He had to give his father credit. The duo had to be the Leaf's secret weapon during wartime. Their hugging would make all enemies just give up and commit suicide.

After escaping their horrid illusion, Naruto walked around the Leaf aimlessly for a couple hours and now found himself where he was. He lifted his head as he felt another familiar energy, though it was one he hadn't felt for the last three years. "Heh, I was wondering when we'd meet again. It's good to see someone I can trust again."

"The same here, Naruto-sama," a female voice said from above Naruto, though the voice's owner was not visible.

Naruto frowned. "How many times must I tell you not to call me that?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot," the voice apologized.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," the blonde said as he shook his head, a small smile on his face. "So, if you're here, I am to guess Orochimaru is as well?"

"Yes, he is."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "What is he up to now?"

"He plans to eliminate the Leaf once and for all."

The killer snorted. "What else is he here for?"

The voice chuckled. "Orochimaru also intends to mark Uchiha Sasuke with a cursed seal."

"That's obvious," Naruto spoke as his mind raced with thoughts and plans. "I met someone today who has a cursed seal. She's agreed to go through Henkan." The voice only stayed silent. "Is there something wrong?"

"You'll let the first random hussy go through the Conversion, but you won't let me, why?"

Naruto sighed as he brought a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples. "We've been over this before, your power as it is, is more valuable to both you and I than you gaining reiryoku and reiatsu would be. I don't know if your techniques would carry over or if they would be totally obsolete. And right now, I don't want to take the chance of you losing your power. Besides, you're more perfect to me as you are now anyway."

The voice was silent for a few moments. "Even if you don't realize it, you really know how to talk your way into a lady's heart."

"Tch," the blonde sounded as he looked to his right, a slight blush on his face. "I'm not looking for love."

A laugh sounded from the voice. "You say that, yet you still persist to surround yourself with beautiful women like myself."

"You make a good spy, that's all," Naruto said, though he couldn't fathom why he felt such a void in his blackened soul. "Whatever, it doesn't matter," the blonde spoke, his demeanor turning serious again. "Tell me, has Orochimaru been doing anything strange outside his 'normalcy'?"

The voice turned serious as well. "Actually yes, he has. He's been meeting with someone called 'Ukajin' for quite some time now. I don't know who that is, but he seems deathly afraid of him. Oh, and he's been muttering to himself about someone called 'his Highness'. Again, I have no clue who that is."

"Don't worry yourself, I already know about 'his Highness'," Naruto said, spitting out the last two words.

"You know him already?"

"No, but I will... _very _soon," Naruto spat before sighing and pushing himself from the tree he was leaning against as he felt a cold energy rushing towards him. "That's enough for now. Keep an eye on Orochimaru and his machinations, it might become useful."

"When will I be able to drop this façade?"

Naruto was silent as he donned his mask and tied it securely around his head. "Soon, I promise." He looked up to the tree, where his spy sat in the shadows. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I know that spying on Orochimaru forever is not your future. Now go, I don't want anyone else to know about you yet."

"As you wish, Naruto-kun," the voice said as the leaves rustled at her exit.

The blonde looked to the ground, extending his senses for a moment. Satisfied that his spy was gone, he looked back up, just in time to watch Haku land in front of him. The girl was out of breath and was slightly sweating from the run. Looking back up, Naruto felt another energy circulation, this one of reiryoku and barely suppressed reiatsu. "You've done well, Haku-chan. Take a rest while I deal with the Akuryou."

The brunette haired girl nodded before leaping into the trees to watch her employer fight.

Naruto smirked behind his mask as he drew Amaterasu, spinning her in slow, lazy circles. His smirk grew as the Akuryou grew closer. "Let's have some... fun, shall we?"

**:::::::::**  
**Time/Location Unknown**  
**:::::::::**

A deep rumble resounded through a large crystalline chamber, the sound echoing kilometers underneath the earth. On a marble pillar etched with time that reached into the farthest limits of the bottomless pit was a gleaming gold basin that was very intricate and ornate in design. In the basin was a thick black liquid that dripped from a diamond ceiling, the gem shining with a supernatural light, casting an ominous ambient glow around the chamber.

Jutting out from the crystalline walls were five decorative balconies, each with a gold basin of their own set in the middle of the platforms. Suddenly, four of the basins lit with fire that changed from orange to four unique colors: sea blue, dark pink, pale yellow and bright gold. The flames spiraled and grew until they were literal beams of light that reached to the diamond ceiling.

The bright gold flashed as a deep, rumbling voice spoke from it. _**This meeting of the Four shall hereby begin.**_

That Akujin isn't here again, your Highness, the sea blue light spoke in an aging but fluid voice. I thought you appointed another to become the 'Evil God'.

_**I did, but he was killed by the Oomizu no Majin, just like the one before him,**_ the golden light answered.

The dark pink light spoke next, her voice like a fine tuned harp. _I could have one of my assassins kill him, your Highness, if you wish._

_**No, that is not necessary, I already have my own soldiers going after him,**_ the gold light replied. _**Speaking of which, Ukajin, is your snake Orochimaru finally ready to fulfill the request I asked of him?**_

_Yes, your Highness,_ the pale yellow light spoke, her voice seductive and hissing. _But, I must ask, is it wise to send him to kill the Yondaime Hokage. We all know that he may very well not return._

_**That is the point, Ukajin. Orochimaru is a disgusting worm that I will not have living in my new world, and this way, we will kill off two birds with one stone and not have to dirty our own hands,**_ the rumbling voice explained.

_What about Akujin, your Highness, do we not need him to complete the Ritual?_ The melodious voice asked.

The sea blue lights voice snorted derisively. You shouldn't worry about him, Ai no Megami. We haven't needed an Akujin in seven millennia, and we sure as Hell don't need one now.

_**Kaijin is Ai no Megami,**_ his Highness spoke. _**We do not need an Akujin to proceed with the Ritual. All we need now is the soul of the one to be claimed as the Godslayer...**_

_Will it be that easy though your Highness?_ Ukajin asked with curiosity evident in her voice.

_Yes, I second that question,_ Ai no Megami spoke, _will the Devil of the Flood fall to us or will we to him?_

His Highness was quiet for a moment, his pillar of light dimming slightly, as if in thought. _**Truthfully, no, it won't be so easy to kill the Oomizu no Majin, but it shall be done, even if I have to send **__**them**__** after him.**_

Will it come to that? Kaijin asked.

_**No, not yet it won't. Honestly, I want to kill this Devil myself. He has no place in my new world, and as his God, I shall tear him asunder,**_ his Highness spoke with such passion that it moved the others. _**Now, we shall continue as planned. The Ritual is to take place in one month's time. And when we gain the power of Heaven, we shall truly become... Gods!**_

_**Your Will be done, Ryuujin-sama!**_ The three others declared before their lights died down and they vanished from the chamber, leaving only Ryuujin's light.

Suddenly, laughter echoed from the golden pillar as a pair of glowing ice blue eyes opened from within the light, staring into the central golden basin. The black liquid within the bowl rippled and showed the image of a blonde haired man dressed in black fighting one of his Akuryou.

_**Soon, Uzumaki Naruto, soon, we shall meet. And whence we do, I shall send you to Hell, where you belong... Godslayer.**_

**:::::::::**  
**The Leaf Forest**  
_Half an Hour Later  
_**:::::::::**

"Shit!" A humanoid creature that looked like a fish screeched in a cracking male voice as he was pinned to a tree by two and a quarter meter long sword. The sword's wielder only stared at the man from behind a black canine-like mask.

"Now, will you answer me, or do you have some fight left in you?" Naruto asked in an even voice.

The fish-man gritted his sharpened teeth as the blonde swordsman began to twist his blade at the silence. "Yes, goddamn it! Yes! I'll answer whatever the fuck you ask, just fucking stop!"

"Good," the blonde spoke as he removed Amaterasu from the assassin's chest. "Haku."

Without warning, thick ice formed around the tree and the man, pinning the fish person to the wood with the frozen water. In a quick blur, Haku was at Naruto's side, the brunette's eyes focused upon the ice in deadly concentration.

Naruto nodded. "You've gotten quicker at drawing out and freezing the moisture in the air." The girl smiled slightly at the compliment, but held her focus. The samurai set his eyes upon the fish and stared into his eyes. "Now, you're going to tell me who sent you to kill me and everything you know about him and his plans."

The fish-man nodded. "U-Uh y-y-yeah, s-sure, anything. I-I work for a man named Kaijin."

"'Kaijin'? Is that the name of his Highness?" Naruto asked.

"No," the captured assassin shook his head. "Kaijin-sama works for his Highness and in turn, so do I. Don't ask me about his Highness, 'cause I don't know anything about him, except that he's powerful and could probably wipe out the continent if he wanted to."

Naruto sighed exasperatedly as he brought his blade up to the fish-man's throat, making the man squeak in fear. "I already know that his Highness is powerful, you moron." He sighed again and lowered his sword, ignoring the growing wet spot on the front of the man's torn pants. "This Kaijin, exactly who is he?"

"The 'Sea God'? I don't really know," the fish explained, panting for air. "Whenever he commands us, he shows up as a pillar of blue light. None of us lower Akuryou ever get to see his true form, only the Chosen."

"'The Chosen'? Who're they?" The blonde asked.

The fish gulped. "T-They're the most powerful out of the Four Grand Armies and are the only ones allowed to seek audience with Four Gods, well unless you're one of _them_."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Who are _they_?"

"T-The Virtues? Y-You mean you've never heard of the Seven Holy Virtues?" The fish-man laughed, almost hysteric. He seemed to gain his confidence, which made Naruto frown. "Here I am, spilling my guts to you and you don't even know what the Hell you're facing. You're the moron here, Majin."

A chuckle escaped Naruto's throat before he began to laugh without mirth, making the would-be assassin lose the courage he had gained. "No, fishy, you're the only idiot here. Haku, release him."

The kunoichi did as told, her ice melting and evaporating as the fish-man fell to his knees. He felt the Devil's sword at his neck and looked up, terrified as he stared into eyes as red as blood.

"Haku, you can turn around if you don't want to see this," Naruto spoke kindly to the girl, who nodded and turned, her eyes shut tight. The blonde gazed at his next victim and brought his sword up. When you return to your 'God', give him this message." And then brought his sword down, cleaving the man in half.

Turning, he sheathed his blade and walked away, leaving the corpse to bleed into the forest floor. "Come Haku." And the girl was right on the samurai's coattail. Naruto looked and saw that stars were already out. "Everything is about to come to a head, I can feel it. Things... are about to get exciting."

**:::::::::**  
**Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy**  
_The Day of the Chuunin Exams_  
**:::::::::**

Natsuko walked up to the Ninja Academy, where the first test of the Chuunin Exams was to take place. She smiled as memories flooded her mind. Looking to her left, she spotted Sasuke and Sakura, both waiting for her. "Hey guys!" She yelled as she ran up to them.

"Ah, keep your voice down, will you?" Sakura asked as she cleaned her ear with her pinky.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan, it's just that today's going to be one of the greatest days ever and I'm really excited," Natsuko explained cheerily. "Aren't you excited, Sasuke?"

The raven haired boy just grunted lazily. Sakura seemed to find this to be extremely cool as she began to fawn over the teen.

Natsuko just took it in stride and grinned, her eyes squinting. "Well, what are we waiting for? Chuunin Exams, here we come!" The blonde girl walked into the Academy, her teammates following after her more sedately. Throughout it all, Team Seven never took notice of the pair of amber eyes watching with sadistic glee.

* * *

**Translation(s):** Ukajin - God of Harvests and Wealth; Akujin - Evil God; Ai no Megami - Goddess of Love; Kaijin - Sea God; Ryuujin - Dragon God

**No Techniques**

******:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** Well, that was short. Whatever. The gears are beginning to turn and major shit is about to hit the fan. Who are Four Great Gods? Who are the Seven Holy Virtues? Who is Naruto's spy? When will I finally stop asking questions and answer a couple? All this and more, next time on-!

Wait a minute, still got stuff to say. Again, the scene with Naruto and Anko felt a bit corny and unneeded, but meh. The scene with Gai and Lee is purely comical relief. Personally, I think the 'Beautiful Green Beasts' are pure win and need more screen time. But whatever. The Four have been revealed, but, just who are they really? (Just so you know, they are OC's) Who is Naruto's spy? (No really, who is she? (She's not an OC, but might as well have been one))

Oh, and the poll is up in my profile for that Naruto/Bleach crossover. I'm kind of put off on doing it, having read the latest chapters, but that's why I'm a good author: I can adapt. If Tite and Kishi want through a curveball, I'll just keep swinging until I hit something, hoping I don't get arrested for Manslaughter for doing so. (That is to be taken as a joke, you know, ha ha ha)

Whatever, I'm done talking. I may take the next couple of weeks off to work on my novel, which I hope to God would be more badass and awesome than this fic. Original works usually are.

Alright I'm out. Read, review, and whatever. If I forgot to address anything, tell me and I'll get back to you.

Until next chapter, RisenInfection, out


	9. The Final Question

**Disclaimer: **Really? I have to tell you this again? How troublesome... No, I don't own _Naruto_, but I own Naruto. In fact, everyone owns Naruto, except Naruto. See what I did there?

**Author's Note:** It's been a fun two week-! Wait... what? O.O Really? Y-You're serious? o.O No way! That can't be possible. Ah, whatever. Oh, right.

Well, then, it's been a fun _eight_ weeks since my last update, though I think fell into a coma for a couple of 'em. But, then again, that's just an excuse I don't need to make. Why? Because I'm back, baby. And I'm going strong. I now have the whole _entire_ story for _The Devi's Blade_ worked out and down on paper. No, not each individual chapter, but each Act, which there'll be three of by the way. Oh, in my mind, the whole story sounds so epic and awesome, my head almost exploded.

But, I digress to more important things, like the feel of this chapter, which once again feels like filler. And I feel disappointed with it. There are some major and minor tweaks I could make to help it a bit, but, I don't feel like it. Now, onto a few things I'd like to point out.

_One:_ This is the most important, right now anyways. Ahem! Naruto is wearing a different outfit in this one and is no longer wearing his Ichigo rip-off samurai clothing. But, and this is a big but, excuse the pun, Naruto by the end of act one, will most likely go back to wearing hakama, at least. So, don't fret, Naruto will at some point look samurai-ish.

_Two:_ There is a scene during the chapter I am most unhappy with, but I think that is what you get when you write this in a day hyped up on caffeine and sugar. Yeah, alright. Back to the scene, it feels kind of mushy, in the romantic sense. Now, I don't want Naruto to head straight into love, I want it to bud and develop his character from the 'lone warrior who slaughters everything in his way' to the 'lone warrior who slaughters everything in his while protecting those he sees as important to him.' So, there shouldn't be that much of a change.

That's all I have to say for now. We'll talk more once you've read the chapter. Alright, you know the drill, see you at the bottom.

**

* * *

**

**The Devil's Blade**  
_An Epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By**_ RisenInfection_

******:::::::::**

These so called 'Four Gods' interest me. They seem to be the pinnacle of power, but from what the Akuryou have told me, they are warped... both physically and mentally. I've only one idea of what they want: absolute power. But why would beings as powerful as these four have been made out to be, want more power? It doesn't make any sense. One should not want more power than one has. One should be content with the strength he has, especially if he can call himself a 'God', of all things.

That is something else I do not understand. Why do those with extraordinary power call themselves 'Gods'? They are only men, and that is what they will remain. It is like calling a small child who has a terrible power inside him a demon, when he is only a human and nothing more. It is ignorance and no small amount of arrogance to call that child a demon, when he has yet to do anything to prove the name right. But to call oneself 'God', you must be arrogant and ignorant. God's sit in their heavens doing nothing as we humans plunge ourselves into the chaos and anarchy.

But for this reason, I accept my title of 'Devil', even though I am human. All 'Gods' need their 'Devils', just like every beginning needs it end, every Alpha needs an Omega, every virtue, a vice. And these 'Four Gods'... are the same.

**:::::::::**  
**Act I**_  
The Devil Swordsman  
_******:::::::::  
**Chapter 9  
_The Final Question_  
**:::::::::**

Naruto sighed as he sat atop the academy's roof, watching lazily as his sister and her team entered the building. He idly moved his mask between his fingers as he watched over the three, a slight frown on his face. Somehow, his father had tasked him with guarding Team Seven, specifically Natsuko, though the man had phrased it more diplomatically, citing that the swordsmen 'should watch over the exams in case anything happened'. Unfortunately for Minato, Naruto was a master at reading the underlying message: Protect my daughter.

The blonde sighed again, this time more angrily, evolving the exhalation into a growl.

"Looks like someone is having a bad day," a voice said from behind the killer samurai, making the blonde look behind his back.

"Kakashi-san, shouldn't you be waiting for your students or something?" Naruto asked as the grey haired man sat next to him, the jounin's nose stuffed within his smut.

"Probably," the older man replied noncommittally. They sat there in silence for a few moments, the quiet atmosphere broken only by Kakashi's occasional perverted giggles.

After five minutes, Naruto finally had enough. "Was there a reason you're here besides reading that trash?"

The grey haired shinobi raised his only visible eyebrow as he looked over to the blonde. "Actually, yes, there is a reason I'm here. I wanted to know why you are here."

"Father wanted me to look after the exams," Naruto replied lazily as he looked to the sky, his mask now held in one hand.

Kakashi shook his head. "Not that, every Konoha Jounin knows that already. I want to know why you are still here, in Konoha. You have to admit a samurai staying in a ninja village is a bit strange, isn't it?"

Naruto looked to the mask in his hand and frowned. "I suppose it is, but truthfully? I have nowhere else to go. My life, after that night, was nothing but loneliness and slaughter, a pathetic existence. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying, scarecrow," Kakashi frowned at the nickname, "I enjoy fighting, it's in my blood, but, I feel like I'm missing out on something. It's like a worldwide joke that everyone but me is in on. It's kind of annoying, really."

The 'scarecrow' smiled with his visible eye. "So, basically, you just want a place to belong?"

"Yeah," the 'maelstrom' answered, "but how I said it sounded more epic."

The two shared a slightly awkward chuckle before Kakashi suddenly looked up, noticing something off about the blonde. "What happened to your clothes?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question and looked down. He was wearing a black hooded coat with red trim, baggy black pants, black open-toed and heeled boots, and black fingerless gloves. "My... mother got it for me, says I'll fit in with the ninja with it."

Kakashi chortled at the explanation, gaining an almost irritated look from Naruto.

"What's so funny, scarecrow?"

The man calmed, though his eye still held mirth. "So... little Naru-kun lets his mommy dress him? That's so cute."

Naruto sighed exasperatedly at the man's childish humor as he placed his mask on and tied it. He stood, grabbing Amaterasu from where she lay next to him and strapped her to his back by her chain. "Kakashi-san... one day, I'm going to kill you. I fear I may enjoy it far more than is healthy." And with a quick Sokudo, the blond was gone, leaving Kakashi to giggle to himself before he used Shunshin to disappear from the roof as well.

**:::::::::**  
**Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy – Room 201**  
**:::::::::**

Haruno Sakura, not for the first time, felt a small amount of fear as she glanced about the room the first test of the Chuunin Exams was to take place. She didn't know if Natsuko or Sasuke felt as nervous as she did, because if they did, they hid it very well from her. The pinkette was just about to try and start a conversation with her team, when the most vile and loathsome creature to ever be born launched itself at them.

"SASUKE-KUN!" A blonde haired girl squealed as she latched onto the Uchiha's back.

Sakura's eye twitched as she deadpanned. "Ino-pig."

"Forehead," Yamanaka Ino said smugly from her position on her crush's back. She stuck her tongue out at her victory over Sakura.

Sasuke's eye began to twitch as the extra weight stayed attached to him. "Ino-san, you have one chance to get off me before I do something I may not really regret." Getting the hint, the blonde girl quickly leapt from her crush's back and landed with a light blush on her cheeks.

"How troublesome," a lazy voice spoke as the rest of Ino's team approached.

"Shikamaru, Chouji!" Natsuko practically yelled as she waved at the two. "I haven't seen you guys in a few months, how've you been?"

"Meh," Nara Shikamaru grunted, uninterested. Akimichi Chouji waved before he started munching on his potato chips again.

A barking laugh caught the group's attention as another voice spoke up. "Well, look at this, we're all together again."

Team Seven and Team Ten looked towards the voice and found another trio of familiar faces. "Kiba, Shino, Hinata, I didn't know you guys were taking the exam too," Sakura said as she looked Team Eight over. _'They seem a lot stronger than before. So does Ino's team, I wonder if sensei's training did the same for us.'_

Inuzuka Kiba grinned almost beastly. "Of course we are. I mean, Kurenai-sensei ditching us suddenly was a setback, but nothing's gonna hold us back from becoming Chuunin. Right guys?" His little dog, Akamaru, barked in agreement with his master as he poked his head out from under Kiba's hood. The dog boy's teammates, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, nodded their own agreement.

Natsuko raised a curious eyebrow. "Kurenai-san is your sensei. I didn't know that."

"How do you know Kurenai-sensei, Natsuko-san?" Shino asked.

"She helped us on our first C-Rank mission that turned to an A-Rank mission," Sakura answered for her teammate. "Speaking of which," she turned to the blonde girl, "Did Naruto-san ever pay for the mission?"

The blonde Uzumaki girl tapped her chin in thought. "Um, no, I-I don't think aniki ever did pay it. I'm going to ask him when we're done with these exams, he owes me." Natsuko looked to her teammates and raised an eyebrow at their looks of disbelief. "What?"

"DOG!" A sudden yell caught the attention of the Rookie Nine, and that of the rest of the room's occupants, who watched as Chouji lunged toward Kiba, though the boy's eyes were hungrily set on Akamaru, who whimpered and hid further under his master's hood. The 'big-boned' boy was stopped short however by Shino, who held Chouji's foot with an unyielding grip.

"Huh?" The Akimichi asked smartly, mirroring the rest of the group's thoughts.

"You almost stepped upon an insect," Shino said, pointing towards a small black ant on the floor. It quickly scurried away and Shino let go Chouji.

"Will you guys keep it down," an older Konoha genin with silver hair and glasses asked exasperatedly as walked up to the group. "You're breaking the quiet atmosphere, that'll just piss a lot of people off, like those Amegakure ninja over there. You do know about their bad tempers, right?"

The nine genin followed the older teen's gaze, their eyes landing on three men, all of whom were staring at the rookie's with contempt and exuding a fair amount of killing intent. Team's Eight and Ten were shaken by the stares, but Team Seven paled, as in their minds, a more horrific image overlapped the three Rain genin. One that depicted a murderous samurai garbed in black that had glowing demonic eyes and a sword dripping with blood.

Natsuko shook out of her fear first, knowing exactly who the man in her nightmares was. "I don't care if everyone in this goddamned room wants to kill me, I'll pass this exam and whoop everyone's ass until I come out on top."

The older genin raised an eyebrow at the outburst. "While that's very brave of you, girl, you're still too loud."

Blushing in embarrassment, the strawberry blonde whispered a slight apology, though she was glad to see her teammates snap out of their fear-induced shock.

"A-Ano, w-who are y-you, sen-senpai?" Hinata asked, shocking Team Seven and Team Ten with her slight increase in bravery.

"Me?" the older teen pointed to himself. "My name is Yakushi Kabuto."

"Is this your first time taking the Chuunin Exams, Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Kabuto shook his head in the negative, a hint of pink on his face. "No, actually this is my seventh time taking the exam. Since the Chuunin Exams take place twice every year, this is actually my fourth year as a genin, something I'm not very proud of."

The Rookie Nine each looked to be thinking something depressing, but were interrupted as Kabuto pulled out a large deck of cards from... somewhere. "But through my four years, I was able to gather info on the Chuunin Exams and its participants, especially for this year. I stored the information on my Ninja Info Cards™, so if there is anything you want to know, just ask." To demonstrate his point, he flipped the top card on the deck over and applied chakra to it. The card lit up and showed numerous statistics.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in thought. "Do your cards show information about individual genin?"

The silver haired genin nodded. "Yes, is there someone you would like to look up?"

"Two, actually," Sasuke replied, "Rock Lee and Gaara no Sabaku."

Kabuto's eyebrow rose. "So you know their names, huh? Well, that's no fun." Dutifully, the ninja shuffled his cards until he came upon the two he was looking for. He applied his chakra to the top one and watched as a picture of a green spandex clad teenage boy with bowl cut black hair and bushy eyebrows showed upon the card along with the boy's statistics in a ninja skill chart.

"Rock Lee," the ponytailed teen announced to Sasuke, "He's one year older than you and has completed twenty D-Rank missions and eleven C-Rank missions. His squad leader is Maito Gai and his teammates are Tenten and Hyuuga Neji. His Taijutsu has increased dramatically over the past year, though his other skills are beyond abysmal. This is his first time taking the Chuunin Exams." Kabuto cut his chakra from the card as Sasuke nodded, realizing why he had been beaten so easily by the older genin.

The glasses wearing shinobi took the second card and fed it chakra, watching as it did the same thing as the first, but this time showing a picture of a redheaded teenage boy with teal eyes and the kanji for 'love' tattooed over his left eye."Gaara no Sabaku," Kabuto spoke again," He's your age and has completed eight C-Rank missions and one B-Rank mission and... woah! That can't be right!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed further. "What is it? Is there something wrong?"

Kabuto shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong, I just can't believe what its saying."

"What is it Kabuto-san?" Ino asked, curious now too.

The silver haired shinobi pursed his lips. "It says that Gaara has always come back unharmed after every mission." In the corner of the room, away from the others, a blonde haired girl with four pigtails and a boy with 'war paint' wearing black cringed, though the redhead between them didn't show anything, other than looking slightly annoyed.

Kabuto cut his chakra from the card and looked at the nine rookies again. "Is that it, or is there anyone else you'd like to know about?"

"Actually, there is," Sasuke said. "Do you have any information on a man named Uzumaki Naruto?"

The silver haired nin shuffled through his cards twice before he looked back to the Uchiha. "Sorry but I don't have any info on anyone who isn't a genin."

"That's alright, I wasn't really expecting anything much at all," Sasuke replied, looking away as he found a wall to the side of the room more interesting.

Kabuto nodded and picked his nin-info cards up, placing them back... somewhere. "Well, if that's it, I'm going back to my team, but I'll leave you with a bit of parting advice. Keep your heads low and your guards up. Try to keep a low profile, a lot of these ninja are dangerous, though, I don't think you'll need to worry much about the genin from Otogakure no Sato. They're from a small country that only recently established a ninja village, so they shouldn't be much of a threat."

Somewhere amongst the assembled genin, a shinobi with brown hair and a hitai-ate with a musical note glared at Kabuto. "Not that much of a threat are we? Let's show him just how much of a threat we really are." His two companions nodded and silently, they dashed towards Kabuto, intending to show the older genin up.

The silver haired nin was answering a random question from Sakura, before his eyes widened, his danger sense tingling. Quickly, he jumped back, a trio of kunai taking his place. Looking up as he landed, Kabuto sidestepped to his left, dodging a right hook from a bandaged genin wearing something that looked like a haystack on his back and a steel gauntlet on his right forearm that had holes in it, like an instrument.

Kabuto smirked, believing he had dodged the attack, but it soon fell when his glasses suddenly shattered, broken by an invisible force. A wave of immense nausea took hold of his body and he fell to his knees, voiding his stomach of its contents as he violently vomited his blood intermixed with bile.

"That should show you," the haystack wearer spoke with a muffled voice, "Not to fuck with the Sound Village."

Suddenly, the front of Room 201 burst with chakra smoke which quickly cleared, revealing several chuunin in their dress uniforms and a large scarred man who wore a black trench coat over his uniform. "You Sound bastards, there will be no fighting in this portion of the exam, do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, I guess we got a little antsy, sorry, sir," the haystack one apologized.

The large shinobi just waved it off irritably. "I hate excuses, yours especially." He turned to the rest of the chuunin hopefuls. "What I said goes for the rest of you little assholes. I will not tolerate any fighting whatsoever in this exam. If I find you fighting, your disqualified and out of here, got that? Good, now get to your seats, maggots." He watched with a pleased smirk as the greenhorns rushed off to their assigned seats. "Now that we're settled, I'll introduce myself. I'm Morino Ibiki, and I'm the proctor for this portion of the Chuunin Exams."

Ibiki snapped his fingers and the chuunin alongside him began passing out paper tests. "These tests are designed to test your knowledge in the ninja arts. You are not allowed to cheat and if you are caught cheating five times you will be removed from the room and disqualified from the rest of the Chuunin Exams. There are nine questions, which you will be given forty five minutes to complete. After the time is up, I will personally ask you a tenth question. If there are no questions, than you all may begin."

With that, the genin flipped their tests over and began.

**:::::::::**  
**Somewhere in Konoha**  
**:::::::::**

Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that day as he lazily walked around Konoha. As it would turn out, the day was beginning to get boring. He actually wished one of the Akuryou would attack him or maybe even one of those 'Virtues' that the fishy one had spouted off about. On that train of thought though, Naruto wished he knew more about what he was facing. Though he was one who usually charged in head first and sliced everything up without a second thought, he was beginning to ponder on just what 'his Highness' was.

The blonde cut his reverie short as he came upon a highly ornate stone which had hundreds of names engraved upon its surface. Naruto looked around for a moment, wondering just how he got here when his crimson eyes landed upon a single name that stood out from the rest: _Sarutobi Hiruzen_.

His hand shot up to his head as a sharp pain lanced through his brain, leaving a dull ache. He shook his head, letting the colors of the world readjust.

"Paying your respects?" An indifferent, female voice asked the blonde. Naruto looked over his shoulder and into the dark eyes of the ANBU Captain from the hospital a few weeks prior.

He shook his head as the unmasked woman stepped up beside him. "Not exactly."

The woman nodded her head, though Naruto could tell that she was saddened about something, most likely a name on the stone.

"ANBU-san..." Naruto started, but was stopped as the kunoichi held a hand up.

"My name is not ANBU-san, it is Yuugao, Uzuki Yuugao," the woman introduced herself.

Naruto nodded, mildly embarrassed. "I apologize, Yuugao-san."

"It is alright, Naruto-sama," Yuugao smiled slightly, though it still held a large amount of sadness within it as did her eyes, something Naruto noticed the longer he stared into the dark irises. The kunoichi turned back towards the Memorial Stone, gazing intently at a singular name.

They stood there for a few moments, before Naruto decided to speak up. "It must be hard, losing someone close to you."

Yuugao turned to the blonde for a few seconds before turning back to the stone. "Yes, it is."

"Was he your lover?"

The purple haired woman looked to the ground. "He-He was my fiancé."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "If I may be so bold, how did he die?"

Yuugao was silent for several minutes, sad thoughts passing through her mind. "On a mission... He died on a mission. It... It was several years ago, on the mission you inadvertently helped us on. He was protecting the client with another jounin, while my team and another were patrolling the area. By the time we got to the scene, the assassin was gone... and Hayate... was..."

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to, Yuugao-san," Naruto said, hoping it was comforting.

The woman only shook her head. "No, I need to tell someone." She took a breath and steeled her nerves. "Hayate was dead, beyond dead. There was barely a body left to bring home. The assassin had used a lighting-based jutsu that completely destroyed Hayate's nervous system, but, for some reason, it didn't end there. His body was destroyed from the inside out. If that jutsu hadn't been amped up, it would've knocked Hayate out and left him completely paralyzed for a few days, at least until we could have gotten him to a medic. Now, my only comfort is that he died a quick, painless death.

"It also brings me comfort to know that I was able to exact vengeance upon the one who killed him, thanks to you. If you hadn't massacred the Black Earth Clan, my name would be on that stone, alongside Hayate's," Yuugao finished her story as she turned to Naruto. "Thank you, Naruto-sama."

Naruto raised a hand. "Please, don't call me that. It makes me feel like you respect me when I've done nothing to earn it."

"But, you have. I... I owe you my life, Naruto-sama," the kunoichi explained, bowing to Naruto at the waist.

The masked blonde snorted as he gazed at her bent over form. "Please, don't ever bow to me and drop the '-sama', it makes me feel older than I am."

Yuugao stood straight and smiled slightly, a bit happier than she had been. "As you wish, Naruto-kun."

"You're quick to get over your 'Hayate's' death, aren't you?" Naruto asked, trying not to feel anything.

The kunoichi shook her head. "Hayate was special, so he'll always have a place within my heart, but he would've wanted me to move on, not dwell on what's been lost."

Naruto only grunted. "So... was there another reason you were here, or were you just paying your respects to the fallen?"

"Actually, the Hokage asked me to find you," Yuugao admitted, "He says he wants to talk to you about something concerning the Chuunin Exams."

The blonde swordsman sighed. "Huh, it's got to be better than walking aimlessly through the village. Let's go."

The ANBU Captain nodded and performed a string of hand seals and touched Naruto's shoulder. In a small twister of wind and leaves, the duo was gone.

**:::::::::**  
**Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy – Room 201**  
_Twenty Minutes into the First Exam_  
**:::::::::**

Natsuko gulped as she stared fearfully at her test. The questions all sounded for the bookworm, like Sakura, but not for her. Had she spent more time paying attention to Iruka-sensei and less time sleeping or pulling pranks on her father, she might have had a clue on how to answer the questions she was given, but since she hadn't, she was shit out of luck.

"A-Ano, Nats-Natsuko-chan? W-Would you l-like to copy fr-from me?" Hinata asked from her place next to the panicking girl.

Natsuko almost violently shook her head. "No, I don't want to get you in trouble, Hinata. Thanks though."

Hinata nodded and turned back to her own test as the Uzumaki panicked even more. Then something caught her eye. Floating in the front row was what looked like an eye made of... was that sand? Shaken, Natsuko decided to look around some more and found, much to her dismay, just about everyone was cheating on their tests. Just as she was about ask Hinata if she could look at the shy girl's test, the proctor called time.

"Alright, maggots, pencils down," Ibiki ordered and heard a collective sigh of relief. "Now, I shall administer the tenth question, but before I do that, I need to tell you one special rule: if you wish, you do not have to answer the last question and your entire team will be dropped from the exam..."

"What!" One of the remaining genin yelled out. "Of course we would take the last question."

"But if you take it and fail, you and your entire team will be dropped and _never_ allowed to participate in the Chuunin Exams again," Ibiki finished, smirking smugly as the arrogant bastards shut up.

"That can't be!" Kiba shouted over the grumbles of the others. "There are some here who have taken the exams numerous times, what about them?"

Ibiki chortled slightly. "That's well and good, but, this year, I'm the proctor."

After that proclamation, several hands shot up to decline taking the tenth question. Natsuko looked toward Sasuke, feeling slightly unsure, but the feeling faded to absolute determination. When she looked to Sakura, the strawberry-blonde haired girl faltered a bit when she witnessed the pinkette's nervousness. Deciding what to do, Natsuko shot from her seat.

"I don't give crap what you throw at me! I'll never back down from anything until I get to the top!" She yelled out, the exclamation steeling everyone's nerves.

Ibiki looked around at the room and found all the genin staring back at him with determination burning in their eyes. _'It just had to be the Minato's daughter, didn't it?'_ "Well then, if that's how you all feel... then, congratulations, everyone in this room passes to the next round."

Natsuko summed up everyone's thoughts as she intelligently asked, "WHAT?"

**:::::::::**  
**The Hokage's Office**  
**:::::::::**

"The fuck?" Naruto asked his father as the blonde leader finished his question. Yuugao nodded dumbly beside the blonde, her own curiosity piqued. What the man had asked almost explained why she was still in the room, though hearing it again would help.

Minato sighed. He really hated explaining things twice to people, though what he asked of his son and the purple haired woman next to him might just need a reiteration. "Alright, I'll say it once more. The council is afraid of you Naruto, plain and simple. They've even gone as far as to label you a Walking Disaster, something that has never been done before. They have asked me to assign you an escort while you are staying in Konoha. I can't spare a Jounin, in case what you say about Orochimaru is true and you and Yuugao seem like friends already, so the council now has their guard for you."

Naruto nodded, accepting the explanation. "I understand that part, your council is just looking out for the village, but what I don't get is the next part."

The Fourth nodded. "Yes, well, it's like I said. I need someone to referee the preliminaries, should it come to that, and the Final Exam, at least until I can find a replacement for you. So, I'm going to, by a decree set by the First Hokage, enlist you as a Tokubetsu Jounin, which basically means you're a specialist in one or two areas." He then turned to Yuugao. "Because of your new assignment, I have to temporarily demote you to Jounin. I'm sorry Uzuki-san."

Yuugao only bowed. "I accept my task full-heartedly, Hokage-sama."

Minato nodded again and turned back to his son. "If there are no questions, you and Uzuki-san may leave to the Tower in Area 44 when you are prepared. If there are preliminary matches, they should take place within five days after the Second Exam... Oh! I almost forgot..." the Fourth opened a drawer and took out a scroll and threw it to Naruto, who deftly caught it. "This should help you prepare for the Finals. It'll be sort of like a fighting circuit, and that should have rules for you to memorize." He sighed at Naruto's nod. "So you accept this, right? I know this is beyond short notice, but I've no one else to turn to, and you're the most qualified for something like this."

The blonde haired samurai-turned-shinobi snorted slightly. "Yeah, I accept. It'll at least give me something to do for awhile, I guess." He looked down at the scroll and seemed to think for a moment, before he looked back into his father's eyes. "I just have one question though."

"And what is that?" Minato asked. His son surprised him by how well he took this. He had thought, based on the murderer's attitude so far, that the masked man would decline and go into a short rant about 'no one being his master but himself' or something. Him accepting this task... was a shocker.

"Do I have to wear one of those silly headbands?"

**:::::::::**  
**Room 201**  
**:::::::::**

"The purpose of the first nine questions was to test your information gathering skills," Ibiki began to answer the rookie's question, but was soon interrupted.

"But what about the tenth question?" The girl from Suna with her hair in four pigtails called out, earning herself a glare from Ibiki.

"When I asked who would stay and who would leave, I had already given you the tenth question," the scarred man explained. "It was meant to see your loyalty, not only to your teammates, but to your village as well. In an interrogation, an enemy will torture you for information. The tenth question was to see if you would talk, or if you would remain silent. Those who chose to leave, would no doubt talk if interrogated, but those who have remained, would endure the torture, because they are-!"

A loud shattering of glass interrupted Ibiki as a small black ball gained the attention of the remaining genin. For a few seconds the ball didn't do anything until suddenly it exploded in a haze of purple smoke. The smog quickly dissipated, revealing a banner that read: The Sexy, Single Mitarashi Anko, and the scantily clad woman herself.

"The Sexy and Single, Mitarashi..." Anko stopped mid-sentence as she noticed how many genin were left in the room. She turned to Ibiki with her lips pursed. "The hell, Ibiki? Eighty-seven of the little fuckers? That's more than last time!"

The large man only shrugged. "Not my fault, Anko-san. I guess there's just more talent this year."

Anko sighed and then turned back to the genin, who scooted back in their chairs as they witnessed the kunoichi's predatory grin. "I guess it doesn't matter. By the time I'm done with them, more than half will be gone." The woman walked back to the window she had smashed through and turned to the genin. "Alright kiddies, let's go play!"

* * *

**Translation(s):** None that I know of

**Technique(s):** None used

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note:** None whatso... wait a minute! I do have something to say. Ahem!

So you're done with the chapter, huh? Good, gives me the chance to make you read an Unnecessarily Large Author's Note of Doom! Yes, I have been watching _Naruto Abridged_. But that doesn't matter, what does matter is the couple of things I need to say and explain:

_One:_ If you're having trouble imagining Naruto's new clothes, look up King's Alternate Outfit from Tekken 5. It looked badass and when I saw it while just randomly playing the game, I came to the conclusion that _The Devil's Blade_ Naruto would look awesome wearing that. Oh, and when you look it up, try and picture a pair of hakama with the coat. That's a good idea, I should try that.

_Two:_ Throughout the chapter, I tried to be a bit humorous. Do not expect this all the time. Though it would be awesome to make Naruto kind of sarcastic, this Naruto leans more towards the strong silent type.

_Three: _Originally, this chapter was supposed to include the Forest of Death scene and make it all the way to the preliminaries, but I decided to stop it where I did, concluding that where I stopped it was the best place to stop it. Oh, and here's another thing: The next couple of chapters will _not_ focus on Naruto, but rather Team Seven and the other genin, so that I may give them character, and plot, and overall meaning to the story. Ha!

_Four:_ I hope I didn't do that scene with Naruto and Yuugao to rashly. For right now, the women in Naruto's life are friends, though Anko might just be a friend with benefits. There will be a time later in Act I or some time in Act II where his relationships with the women will evolve into something more, but it is still too early for that, as Naruto is only just now starting to peek from his shell.

_Five:_ Yes, Naruto is now a Special Jounin, if you have a problem with it, tell me in your review and I shall reply and explain it. And yes, Hayate is dead, like in canon, except this time, Yuugao already got her revenge. Oh, and yes, Naruto is taking Hayate's place as proctor.

_Six:_ Seriously, are you still reading this? If you are, good for you, 'cause I still have more stuff to say.

_Seven:_ So far, no one has gotten Naruto's spy yet, though you all did remind me of Tayuya and Kin, and have made me consider putting them in the story. And no, it wasn't Karin, I don't like her. I don't like _any_ Sasuke fangirl.

_And Finally, Eight:_ The _BLEACH_ xover is on the back burner, though I have written half of the first chapter. It is not my highest priority at the moment. But I will have it up by the end of Act I of this, which will be soon if I get off my ass and right this. It is coming out, okay? Just not right now. Besides, it gives the manga time to get farther ahead so ideas don't sound completely ridiculous and I am then burned at the stake for some type of heresy or hypocrisy.

Alright, that's it. Holy crap! That was unnecessarily long. Eh, whatever. Alright sinners, read, review, and stay awesome.

Until next time, RisenInfection, out


	10. Sidewinder

**Disclaimer:** I claim full ownership... of the plot and original characters that I painstakingly created for your amusement. (You thought I was going to claim ownership of _Naruto,_ didn't you? Yeah, me neither!)

**Author's Notes:** Just a day away from being a year since I last updated and now I'm back. (Sigh) I don't have an excuse other than the fact that I'm incredibly lazy and that, instead of writing it, I began to get sucked into reading fanfiction, in the process I became disillusioned by it, mostly because the ones that I read were poorly written and/or poorly thought out. The biggest one that led to me quitting for awhile was that no one ever updates. That's when I figured out, 'Yo, Risen, you're just doing the same annoying thing everyone else does!'... and sat on my ass some more.

Anyway, enough of my whining. This chapter here took this whole fucking year to write, and that was just for maybe half of it. Once I got inspired enough (mostly through boredom and listening to too much Heavy Metal [There's no such thing as 'too much Heavy Metal'!]), I got off my lazy ass and wrote the rest of it. This is the result.

Now, you all know the drill. Read, review, and enjoy. I'll rant a rant that isn't a rant at the end of this.

**

* * *

**

**The Devil's Blade  
**_An Epic reimagining of The Demon's Blade_

**By **_RisenInfection_

**:::::::::**

_A blonde boy wearing the traditional garb of an apprentice samurai with a slightly longer than normal katana strapped to his back walked through a random alley in the random town he now found himself in, his youthful, though scarred, face set into a frown, his amethyst eyes slowly looking around, scanning the fog entrenched cement and cinder for anything remarkable... there wasn't. He and his team had been dispatched by Akira-sensei personally to the town as a part-time patrol. The boy knew this not to be the truth, as samurai, especially an apprentice such as himself, were not sent to patrol towns unless specifically requested, more so the truth when the town was within shinobi territory. Just what was Akira-sensei up-!_

_The boy narrowed his eyes as an almost inaudible whimper followed by unkind laughter breached his senses. Looking to the left, the boy found a connecting alley. Believing he had nothing better to do, the blonde decided to investigate._

_Stepping into the alleyway, the boy knew he didn't like what he saw: three teenage boys were picking on a girl who couldn't have been any older than eight or nine. While the boys remained unremarkable to the blonde, the girl stood out like a light in the shadows. She had light blue hair pulled back into a ponytail that spiked out and dark eyes that held fear and a hint of suppressed determination. Her clothes were ripped and torn and seemed too big for the girl. _

_But none of this truly mattered to the blonde._

_No, what mattered to him, was what he saw in the girls hand: a crude gemstone, most likely an amethyst, that, if his senses weren't deceiving him, pulsed with the same energy he could feel circulating within the girl, like it was an extension of her own power given a physical form._

"_Ha, what are you going to with that rock, __**freak**__?"_

_The blonde boy looked up as his musings were interrupted by the tallest boy, most likely the leader of the group. The apprentice samurai watched as the girl whimpered again, bringing her knees to her chest, as if to protect herself from the insults. The three bullies just laughed._

"_Hey, girl, are you okay?"_

_All four occupants of the alley looked over to where the new voice had come, all sets of eyes taking in the sight of the blonde._

_The leader of the bullies smirked at the new arrival, his mouth a mile ahead of his brain. "Looky here guys! A kid playing samurai has come to save the princess of the freaks. How touching."_

_Ignoring the ignorant fool, the blonde asked again, "Are you alright girl?"_

"_Oi, did you hear Daisuke or are ya deaf, ya little retard?" One of the other bullies yelled, this one a little more rotund than his friends._

_Finally, common sense awoke from its coma as the third bully spoke up. "Um, guys? I-I think his sword may be real. I saw him with a bunch of other samurai who cut up this thug."_

'_Daisuke' sneered at the third bully. "Yeah right, Sousuke, like I'm going to believe anything you say, not after what happened a week ago." The boy looked back to the blonde, his sneer becoming cruel. "Oi, retard, you want to save the freak, right? You'll have to get by-ugh!"_

_Everyone present had varying reactions, but they were all shocked, as, in a single heartbeat, the blonde boy who was standing at the mouth of the alley was now in front of Daisuke, his blade poised to cut through the teenager's throat. "You should learn to tame your mouth, 'retard'. It might keep your head attached to your shoulders."_

"_W-What the __**hell**__ are you?" The boy cried._

"_Pissed," the blonde answered before lowering his katana. "If you three want to live to breathe another breath, I suggest you run as fast as you can and never let me see your hides again, or next time," he gave a death glare to Daisuke, "I will not stop myself from sending you to Shinigami-sama, minus your head." Seeing that the bullies weren't moving, he decided to motivate them by slicing his sword through the air, the edge grinding against the brick wall, sparks flying from its path, and pointed to the alley's mouth with the weapon. "Go! Now!"_

_Seizing the chance, the bullies ran as fast as their legs would carry them, their metaphorical tails hidden between their legs._

_The blonde smirked, taking pleasure that his authority had been recognized by the cowards. Frowning again, the boy turned back to the girl, who stared at him with fright and... Was that awe? Shaking his head, the blonde kneeled down so he was leveled with the girl and looked to the stone that was clenched in the girl's fist. "Did you make that?"_

_As soon as the words escaped him, the girl's eyes narrowed and she turned away from her savior, who, to her at least, became a tormentor. "Y-You're like the rest, aren't you? You probably hate me because of this, right?"_

"_How can I hate you, when I don't even know your name?" The boy asked with a raised eyebrow._

_The girl's eyes widened slightly as a light pink blush spread across her cheeks in her embarrassment. "Guren," she whispered, "my name is Guren."_

"'_Guren', huh?" The blonde repeated before bowing slightly at the waist. "It is nice to meet you Guren-san. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, but you can just call me Naruto if you wish."_

"_Y-You're actually talking to me? Aren't you going to call me a freak or something?" Guren asked, her eyes wide._

_Naruto's eyebrow stayed raised. "Why would I call you such a thing?"_

_The girl's air suddenly turned from surprised to sad, something that Naruto narrowed his eyes at. "Because of this." She held up the crystal in her hand, giving Naruto a better view of the stone._

"_It's crude and unrefined, but with some work and control, I bet you could even make a blade," the blonde idly commented._

_Guren's eyes widened once again in shock. "How did you know that I could make them?"_

_Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. "It isn't very hard to figure out, plus, from what I sensed, your crystal has the same energy running through it as you do. I think it's pretty cool that you can form crystal from nothing."_

"_R-Really?" The girl asked timidly._

_The blonde gave her a small, genuine smile. "Really."_

_Guren looked around for a moment, her eyes showing caution and anxiety, making Naruto frown slightly. Finally she looked at him, her eyes downcast though filled with hope. "W-Would you like to be friends? You'd be my first friend, but I'd understand if you didn't."_

"_Your first friend?" The boy asked before bowing. "It would be an honor."_

**:::::::::  
****Act I**  
_The Devil Swordsman  
_**:::::::::**  
**Chapter 10  
**_Sidewinder_  
**:::::::::**

Training Area Number Forty-Four, dubbed the 'Forest of Death' by most jounin of Konohagakure no Sato, was a place where the most dangerous of creatures dwelled and where hundreds of lost souls haunted, rightfully earning it's name. It was a forbidden place where only the most battle-hardened or psychotic of shinobi could survive and nothing was as it seemed. And, on this day, was the testing field for the Second Test of the Chuunin Exams.

The dark and foreboding forest loomed over the Chuunin hopefuls as dark grey clouds seemed to spiral around the tower set in the center of the woods, the flashes of lightning and claps of thunder making more than a few of the genin lose control of their emotions... and their bladders, if the wet spots were any indication.

And all this did was feed Anko's growing good mood, a sign of bad things to come, especially if one were to judge by the grin she wore, one of an absolute predator.

"Oi, maggots! Listen up! This," she gestured to Area 44, "is the Second Exam." From a pocket within her coat, the woman pulled out a scroll that, once unrolled, contained a map, and pointed to the middle of it. "Your goal is to get to the tower in the center of the forest within five days. The teams who are able to reach the tower and pass this exam, move on to the next Test."

Before Anko could continue, the Akimichi scion made his protest known. "'Five days'? Are you kidding me? There's no way we have enough food for five days!" Some of the other genin agreed with the rotund boy, others didn't care.

The purple haired woman frowned at the impudent interruption of her grand ploy to scare all the little idiots. "This test isn't one to show how quickly you can traverse this forest, but how well you are at surviving, the forest... and each other."

"What the hell do you mean 'each other'?" The Inuzuka kid spoke up, his ninken yipping in agreement from under his master's hood as the boy voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Did I stutter, maggot?" Anko was almost overly enjoying herself, as was evident by, once again, her predatory grin. Pulling two scrolls from another pocket, one white and one brown, making many wonder just how many pockets the coat had, the Tokubetsu Jounin continued. "Each team will be given one of these here scrolls, either a Heaven scroll," she held up the white scroll for the genin to see, "or an Earth scroll," the brown scroll was held up. "Your mission is to retrieve the opposite scroll that you are given from one of the opposing teams. Only teams that possess both scrolls may enter the Tower and move on to the next phase of the Chuunin Exams.

"Oh, and before I forget," she snapped her fingers, surprising a few genin as a chuunin wearing his hitai-ate as a bandanna landed next to the woman, holding a moderate sized stack of papers. Taking the top one from the pile, Anko held it up for the examinees to see. "You all will need to sign this waiver of your legal rights, so the Leaf Village cannot be held responsible in the case of your... _death_." She grinned as the implications of her words set in. Unfortunately, to her at least, the tense mood was spoiled rather quickly.

"Ha!" The Uzumaki girl, Natsuko, if Anko wasn't mistaken, exclaimed with her arms crossed. "I'm not going to die until I'm the greatest kunoichi in the world, so you can keep your damn waiver." The girl wore a broad grin, thinking her shouts of glory victorious... Until a tongue lapped up the blood from her bleeding... cheek...

Wait...

What?

"I can see the resemblance between you and _him_," Anko whispered into the girl's ear from behind her, making the girl tense as she stressed the word 'him', guessing Natsuko would know to who she referred. "I'm only going to give you a warning this time, but do something like that again, I'll cut more than just a cheek, _daddy_ be damned. Clear?"

The blonde haired kunoichi gulped her fear and found her confidence, no matter how damaged it was. "C-Crystal, ma'am!"

"Good!" Anko exclaimed, clapping her hands. She was about to flicker back to her previous spot, when the kunai she'd thrown was handed back to her... by an extremely long tongue.

"It almost hit me, but I thought I'd return it anyway," the genin the tongue belonged inside of said, a Grass shinobi with a straw hat.

"Aw, that's sweet, thanks," Anko replied as she took the knife from the long, slimy, prehensile extremity that, to more than a few, belonged _inside _the mouth of the ninja.

Returning to her spot in front of the group, Anko spoke once more. "Alright you little bastards, grab a waiver, sign it, and, with your team, exchanged the waivers for your scroll. Oh, and hurry it up, the Second Exam begins in half an hour."

**:::::::::**  
**Gate 37  
**_Twenty-Two Minutes Later_  
**:::::::::**

Team Seven stood at their assigned gate anxiously awaiting the beginning of the Exam. The chuunin who was supposed to let them in looked bored, though paid the genin no attention.

"So, what's our plan once we're in?" Sakura asked looking to her teammates – no – friends.

Sasuke let out an amused snort. "One that doesn't involve dying would be preferable, no?"

The pink haired girl nodded as Natsuko began to think. "Why don't we just rush in and wing it as we go through?"

"I said one that does _not_ involve any of us dying," the Uchiha replied. At Natsuko's pout, he sighed and decided to explain. "We're not like sensei, or _him_," he hissed, and though the girls interpreted the stressed word as someone else, the boy was thinking of two people. "We're not so powerful as to go charging in blind and headfirst. If we did, we'd die for sure."

Natsuko lowered her head with a defeated sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Maybe we should make a plan once we're in the forest?" Sakura suggested.

"You'll have to now. It's time to go in," the chuunin spoke for the first time, and just as he finished saying it, klaxons began to blare as the red light above their gate turned green. The chuunin unlocked the barrier and let Team Seven trough. "Good luck... you'll need it." The last part came out as a whisper as the three genin, like all the chuunin hopefuls, dashed into the shadows of the Forest of Death.

**:::::::::**

An hour into the exam found Team Seven taking a break in a small clearing. As it was, the squad had not run into any other team, not even one from Konoha. However, the three hadn't given up hope yet, as the exam had only just begun, and there was no way anyone else could have completed the trial.

"All right," Sasuke spoke up after a few moments of silence, letting the girls catch their breath. "It's more than obvious that we're either going to get split up or infiltrated while we're in this forest. We need a codeword or password, so we know it's the real us. Do you guys have any ideas what we could use?"

The blonde and pinkette looked contemplative for a several seconds before Sakura had an idea. "How about the 'Ninja Song', you know, like the one they taught us in the academy?"

Sasuke shook his head in the negative. "No, that's too long, we need something short that only we would know the answer to. It doesn't have to be just one word, but it needs to be something easily remembered."

The squad fell silent at the statement, their minds racing. Suddenly, like a bulb switching on over her head, Natsuko's eyes shone with an idea. "How about my brother's title? No one but us, sensei, those jounin, and Zabuza and his minion know it. It's perfect."

"What was it again?" Sasuke asked, actually liking the idea. It wasn't that he didn't know the alias, as he'd never forget it, or the man himself, but wanted to make sure Natsuko and Sakura knew it as well. He listened carefully as the blonde whispered it in his ear.

"Well, what is it?" Sakura questioned, rather impatiently, slightly upset that her crush had taken Natsuko's idea over her own. A mild blush stretched across her cheeks as said crush whispered the password in her own ear. "Right, De-mmph!"

"Shh, don't say it aloud, you never know if someone's watching us or not," the Uchiha told her, his hand covering her mouth. Sakura nodded her understanding and he removed his hand, revealing the girl's deepened blush, either from the intimate contact, embarrassment, or a combination of the two.

"So," Natsuko began, breaking the awkward silence that followed the two's exchange, "what are we supposed to do now?"

Sasuke was about to speak, when someone else did so for him. "Now, you are supposed to die!"

Team Seven looked to the origination of the hissing voice and found the ninja from grass who had returned the crazy proctor lady's kunai standing before them, a disturbingly wide grin on his face. Before any of the genin could react, the shinobi reached his hand up to the right side of his face and shot the three a raspberry, revealing an amber eye with an ovular pupil. "Shi no Kanran no Jutsu!"

**:::::::::**  
**Somewhere in Konoha**  
**:::::::::**

Naruto stood outside an apartment, Yuugao's apartment to be exact, and his back against a wall with his eyes closed, though no one could tell as his mask covered his face. His 'handler' had expressed a desire to change from her ANBU uniform and, having no real choice, he had acquiesced. Besides, it had given him a chance to look through the scroll his father had given him.

The woman had invited him in, but he declined with a promise to stay put outside. Outside... it brought a strange thought to him: How long would there be an outside, for him at least? An end was coming. The blonde could feel it in his gut, in his bones. But, what was that end? What was it that His Highness wanted? What was worth sacrificing so many lives, so many innocent's lead astray by a false god, or gods? What was it all for?

The blonde held no illusions as to what the Highness wanted, as it had been the same thing he had wanted when he was younger, the thing he wanted even now.

'_Power,'_ Naruto thought somberly. _'In some fashion, we all seek power. But, in all honesty, are we... am I, truly prepared to pay the ultimate cost for something as fleeting and destructive as ultimate power?'_

_**Are any of us?**_ The Kyuubi asked, her voice awakening Naruto from his reverie.

'_I would say no, but seeing these Akuryou, I'm not so sure anymore,'_ he answered within his head.

_**The real question, though, would be if you are ready to pay the toll for power.**_

Naruto was quiet for a moment. The fox could hear the thoughts as they raced through her container's head, watching as the blonde considered his answers. _'In my mind, I know that taking Amaterasu from my master's dead hands, that I already paid in full. Her Sakki hurts sometimes, but it is nothing more than my own.'_ He opened his eyes and looked into the sky, his crimson orbs looking for something that the Heaven's held no answer to. _'But I know within my heart, my soul that I've yet to truly know what it is to pay the ultimate cost.'_

Silence reigned as both beast and devil thought over what was said. Naruto, sick of the foreboding thoughts of utter gloom, decided to extend his senses, to see how his little sister's – he was still trying to get used to that – team was doing. He didn't want to admit it, but he was concerned for the girl and her friend's, even the Uchiha.

Taking a deep breath, the blonde ronin/shinobi closed his eyes and extended his senses to cover the whole of the Land of Fire, no small feat, a grandiose one, in and of itself, but easily done by one such as the blonde. Taking another breath, Naruto focused on how his sister's energy – chakra – felt, warm and blazing with life, like a bonfire of happiness and excitement.

There it was, in a forest northeast of the village, most likely Training Area 44, he felt Team Seven's circulating energy, and it was... dimming? His closed eyes shutting tighter, Naruto narrowed his senses to that forest, right on the genin squad and all the energies of their opponents. There was only one. It felt... slimy and cold, like...

Naruto's eyes flew open as he realized who was attacking his sister's team. "Damn it, not now! I'm going to kill you... Orochimaru!"

And with the threat left hanging in the wind, the blonde swordsmen used Sokudo to disappear in a blur of black.

**:::::::::**  
**Forest of Death  
**_Team Seven_  
**:::::::::**

Sasuke panted as he skidded to a stop on a rather large tree branch. His Sharingan, which had two tomoe in each red iris, was slowly spinning, almost incredulously memorizing the monster before him as it calmly walked out of a towering cyclone of fire.

The Uchiha couldn't believe it! His whole fucking body was on fire, he was slowly running dangerously low on chakra, and he had used some of his best techniques on the bastard, who decided, like it was a calm Sunday afternoon in the park, to _stroll_ leisurely out of the blaze.

'_What the fuck is he?'_ Images of two other men, one with raven hair and evil eyes, the other blonde and exuding an aura of murderous intent, flashed through his head. _'Is this... true power?'_

"It has been so nice to play with you, Sasuke-kun," the grass ninja, who identified himself as Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Three Ninja of the Leaf Village and a known traitor of the same village, spoke, his voice like a snake's hiss. He reached up to his face, which seemed to be... _melting_? And peeled it off, revealing another face underneath the fleshy mask, this one paper white with purple eyelids, like some type of fucked up geisha, most likely all make-up. No one could get that white, could they? "But, I believe it is time I end this."

Sasuke gulped down a lump in his throat and brought a pair of kunai up as he took a defensive stance, trying futilely to defend himself as the snake man began to flash through numerous hand seals. He was surprised that his Sharingan was unable to copy the technique. It couldn't even copy the hand seals, not that it would've done much good if he didn't know how to mould the chakra for the jutsu. His shock became even more apparent as he watched Orochimaru's neck stretch out, his head, like a snake launching at its prey, suddenly shooting at him.

Terrified, the Uchiha couldn't find the will to move as he watched Orochimaru's mouth open, fangs that hadn't been there before glistening with what looked like venom. Closing his eyes, Sasuke waited for the snake to bite. It never did.

Opening his eyes, the raven haired genin was shocked to see a mass of black, red, and gold blocking his vision. Finally able to move as his fear abated, the teenager stepped to the side and found Naruto, of all people, blocking Orochimaru, whose fangs were tightly clamped down upon the former's black blade.

"Uchiha," the blonde spoke, his voice still like gravel, though not as much as the first time they met, as he threw Orochimaru's head back, the snake-like neck pulling the cranium back to its place upon the man's shoulders. "Go check on your teammates, make sure they're all right. I'm going to deal with this snake."

As the blonde man began to walk towards Orochimaru, who was wearing a sick smile as he seemed to recognize the taller man, Sasuke tried to protest, but in the end, it was fruitless. "But... if you go, we'll-!"

"Sasuke," Naruto said with a sharp edge to his voice. "Protect your friends, no matter what happens." The statement was final, that much the Uchiha could tell himself.

"R-Right," he turned and dashed towards his fallen comrades as fast as humanly possible as he was sure that wherever a Walking Natural Disaster went, mass destruction was sure to follow.

"Kukukuku... Trying to save another child, Majin-kun?" Orochimaru asked as he watched his prize run off. "It didn't work last time, what makes you think it'll work now?"

Naruto only stared at the man, gauging the snake. "This time is different Orochimaru-san. You're endangering people I'd rather much protect."

"Oh, is that so?" The older man questioned, an eyebrow raised. The blonde stood his ground, the mask he wore blocking any expression he might have worn. This elicited a dark chuckle from Orochimaru, who found something amusing. "Kukuku... You have changed, Majin-kun. Where is the man who killed a whole nation in a night? Where is the assumedly unstoppable Sen **N**in no Satsugai? Where is the Devil I should be facing now?"

"He's standing in front of you," the Thousand Man Slayer spoke, his voice level.

The Snake Sannin chuckled, as if Naruto's words were a joke. "Is that so? I do not see him. All I see is a boy thinking he's something he's not."

"Then..." Naruto began before suddenly blurring into nothingness, "you are blind."

Orochimaru quickly turned and leapt back as the blonde's sword sliced through the branch he'd been standing on. "You'll have to do better than that, Naruto-kun."

"As you wish," the samurai said as he stabbed the man from behind, his blade tearing through flesh, muscle, and bone.

The older man's eyes widened as the pain ripped through him. Looking up, he watched as the blonde that had initially attacked him melt away into nothingness, revealing it to be a clone. Then he began to chuckle. "Again, Naruto-kun, you'll have to do so much better than that to kill me."

Naruto's eyes widened behind his mask as he watched the Orochimaru on Amaterasu melt into mud. In a fit of rage, he swiped the blade, slinging away the liquefied earth. Regaining his composure, the ronin took in his surroundings, searching for the snake's hiding spot. Noticing something out of place with the forest, the blonde narrowed his eyes at the spot. Not a second later, Naruto quickly shimmied to his left as glowing steel shot out from behind him.

Rapidly, the swordsman turned, unsurprised that the sword that had tried to impale him was beyond ten meters long, the metal glowing with an eerie blue sheen. Naruto's narrowed eyes landed on the blade's wielder, Orochimaru's grin growing dangerously close to psychotic.

Before the Sannin had a chance to speak, though, Naruto blurred towards him. Acting fast, the older man reduced the length of his blade to that of a normal katana and instinctively brought it up in a middle guard, the blonde murderer's steel impacting his, sending sparks flying as the two swordsmen's blades locked. The deadlock soon ended, though, as Naruto, trumping Orochimaru in raw strength, shoved the man back and quickly followed up with a spinning slice aimed at the pale man's midsection. His blow was blocked, but the force of the hit sent the snake flying back.

Trying to press his advantage before Orochimaru could regain his bearings, the blonde samurai sped toward the man, who had now landed on another tree branch, but suddenly leaped up and back, nearly avoiding being cut in half by the Sannin's now extended blade. Landing, Naruto brought Amaterasu to bear, going on the defensive as he rapidly began to parry strikes from Orochimaru's elongated sword, which the snake-like man wielded with a proficiency no man could ever have with a blade so long.

Knocking another strike to the left, Naruto retaliated with a long distance strike of his own as he collected reiatsu around his blade and slashed the air, sending a blade of black energy towards Orochimaru. The blonde's eyes widened as the man smirked and disappeared in a blur of white and black, dodging the attack as it sliced through the tree that had been behind him. Naruto's eyes widened a fraction more as he hastily spun around and brought his sword up, successfully blocking the Snake Sannin's strike, but, was thrown back several meters by the blow.

"Kukuku... You are severely disappointing me, Majin-kun," Orochimaru spoke, his face twisted into a mockery of a grin. "It would seem that you have truly changed from that cute, little murderer who would go out of his way to utterly crush his opponent, into something more reminiscent of a tiny, insignificant ant who would go out his way just to protect his little home. What a shame."

Naruto was wholly unfazed by the man's attempt to taunt him as he stood from his kneeling position and looked straight into Orochimaru's eyes. After a moment, he spoke. "You've changed as well, Orochimaru. Eleven years ago, I could only feel chakra flowing through you. Now, there's something else, something that feels too much like reiryoku."

Orochimaru's grin grew at the statement and suddenly, he began to laugh, a full blown hysteric laugh completely void of mirth. As his guffaws died down, his face settled into a grin as he stared at the blonde across from him, his eyes faintly glowing with an amber energy. "I was wondering when you would figure it out, little devil. It saddens me that it took you so long."

"I'm sure," Naruto quipped sardonically. "What are you here for Orochimaru? Last time we met, it had been to destroy that town. Is that what you're after, to destroy the Leaf?"

"Kukukukukukuku," the Sannin chuckled, amused by the samurai's words. "That is part of it, yes, but then, it would only be a step into getting what I want."

The blonde swordsman's eyes narrowed. "And just what is it that you want?"

Orochimaru's grin became a satisfied smirk. "I want the Last Loyal Uchiha."

Naruto took a step back. "You want Sasuke, why?"

"Well," the pale man began, "he wouldn't be for me, of course, though I wouldn't mind experimenting upon him to unlock the secrets of the Sharingan, but my Queen would disapprove of those actions."

"I'm surprised, taking the Uchiha for yourself seems like your kind of thing, Orochimaru," the blonde said, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The Snake Sannin shook his head in the negative. "No, no, I would never do that, well, maybe, years prior to now, but, my Queen and his Highness have already given me the means to achieve my dreams, and achieve them I have, kukukuku."

Though unseen thanks to his mask, Naruto snarled at the mention of 'his Highness'. "So, that's it, you really are working for that bastard. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I don't really care why you want the Uchiha, it doesn't matter, I'll protect him anyways, but what I want to know, is just who your Queen is."

"Kukuku... telling you would take all the fun out of it, Majin-kun," Orochimaru spoke as he raised his Kusanagi sword. "I'd much rather you spin for awhile, it is most... entertaining!" As soon as the word left his mouth, both he and Naruto blurred into nothingness, their battle waging on.

**:::::::::**  
**Outside the Forest of Death**  
**:::::::::**

"Yum! Nothing's better than dango and juice!" Anko cheered happily as she ate the last dumpling from the stick and washed it down with a cup of juice. "Ahh, hmm, better get to the tower soon," she spoke to herself as she haphazardly threw her dango stick into a tree, where there were numerous others. With the last skewer, Anko had made a perfect leaf ninja symbol.

Her plans were interrupted however, as a chuunin kneeled before her, the ninja smoke of a Shunshin dissipating around him. "Anko-san, there's been a murder, and it... is... well, weird, for lack of a better term. Y-You need to see it for yourself."

The purple haired Special Jounin rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's go."

A few moments later, Anko and the chuunin arrived at the murder scene, where two other chuunin were checking the bodies.

"What do we know?" The woman questioned, glancing at each of the corpses.

"Nothing really," one of the other chuunin said. "I believe that they're one of the two Kusagakure teams to pass, and, as you can see, they are all missing their faces."

Anko's eyes widened at that last statement, before narrowing in contemplation. _'Missing faces? That's one of _his_ ninjutsu! It has to be _him_!'_

"Anko-san, their identification cards," the other chuunin said, handing her the IDs.

Rifling through them, the jounin's eyes widened once more as she stared at one of the pictures, one that looked like the genin that had handed her kunai back to her with his tongue. _'He's this one! But, I don't understand, why the hell is he here!'_

Turning, Anko began barking orders to the three. "You three alert Hokage-sama of these murders and get as many ANBU Captains here as quickly as possible. I'm going into the forest to find the murderer and stall until-!"

Anko's orders were interrupted as the sound of thousands of hummingbirds was heard from Area Forty-Four. Looking towards the forest, the four ninja were stupefied as they watched a number of the large, ominous trees crash into the forest itself, sending large quakes through the area that were felt even by the four outside of the wooded battle area.

"W-What the fuck!" One of the chuunin's stuttered out. "Those trees are least two meters thick! Nothing should be able to cut through them! What the fuck could do that!"

The three shinobi couldn't see it, but the smirk Anko now wore was dangerously close to becoming a sadistic grin. "One of the only men I know that has the most probable chance of killing that bastard for good."

The Chuunin shared an awkward glance, all thinking the same thing, when Anko turned around, her face serious. "You three have your orders. Report everything you've seen here to Hokage-sama and alert those ANBU Captains... now!"

The three saluted hastily before leaping and blurring away. Turning towards the forest once more, Anko grinned and did the same as the chuunin, hoping that she might find a dead snake hung out to dry.

**:::::::::**  
**The Forest of Death  
****:::::::::**

Naruto skidded to a stop in midair, dust actually kicking up ahead of him. The specter of Amaterasu floated idly behind him and his blade glowed a brilliant silver from the overcharged Hachidori he had tried to use against Orochimaru, the technique only being successful in permanently cutting down the forest, for every time he cut through the Sannin either snakes would shoot out of his body to the severed part and reconnect it, or the man would spit out a completely new and unharmed body, like a snake shedding its skin.

Across from the blonde, Orochimaru stood, unharmed and smirking in sadistic glee, as if he knew his toying with the samurai was angering him further. And the man knew that it was. "Kukukukuku..." the snake chuckled, "I never would have thought that I'd be witness to your release, it is an honor, no matter how weak it is."

The masked swordsman's eyes narrowed at the insult as Amaterasu's ire rose as well. "_You shouldn't insult Amaterasu and I, you've only seen a fraction of what we can truly do in this form_."

Orochimaru only chuckled at the feeble, at least to him, attempt to scare him. "No matter what you do, it'd never work, Majin-kun. Do you not remember, I told you that I have achieved my ultimate dream?"

"_Sorry_," Naruto spoke slowly, the apology insincere. "_I wasn't aware that it mattered at the time_."

"Well, it does matter now, little devil," Orochimaru grinned as he moved his sword to his right and dashed towards the blonde, his Kusanagi aimed to stab the samurai in the chest. Timing it just right, Naruto parried the mythical blade to his right and leapt back. As soon as his foot touched down, he gathered Amaterasu's flames around his blade and blasted off the tree branch he was on and past Orochimaru, the burning blade passing through the man like a hot knife through butter, splitting him in half horizontally.

As he came to a stop, Naruto turned to face his opponent, swiping his blade to the side as he did so, the flames running its length dissipating with the action. He was hoping that the fire from the attack would cauterize the wounds and keep the snakes from connecting the man back together. But, just as he had expected, snakes shot from Orochimaru's upper-half and into his lower-half, breaking through burnt tissue and gore, before pulling the man back together, all the damage he had sustained healing rapidly before Naruto's eyes.

Orochimaru turned to the stunned swordsman and smirked in genuine amusement. "What I had dreamed, Majin-kun, is what I now am." His smirk became a grin. "I am... _immortal!_"

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction before narrowing. "_There's no such thing as an immortal. The laws of the universe would never allow it_."

The Snake Sannin shook his head in disappointment. "What a foolish little boy you are, Majin-kun. Have you ever truly questioned our world? Think about it. Our world allows for us to wield immense power unrivaled, it allows for the Tailed Beasts to exist, when all logic says they shouldn't. And our world allows for four ultimate beings to exist and call themselves our Gods, to call this world, such a fantastic world, their own."

The blonde only stared at the man like he was insane, but, he knew, deep down inside, he knew part of what Orochimaru spoke of was undeniable truth.

Orochimaru looked to his right and frowned as he began to feel more and more chakra signatures beginning to head his way. "Well, it would seem that I have played with you enough, Majin-kun. It also seems that I might have to come back for Sasuke, or not. The Queen never said _I_ personally had to take him, I might let someone else do it." The Sannin turned and as he began to leave, he threw something over his head toward Naruto. "Oh, and before I forget, here's a little present. I hope you enjoy it, Majin-kun. Kukukukuku!"

Naruto watched as the snake-like man faded into nothing, taking a deep, calming breath when he realized he couldn't feel the man's energy circulation anywhere close to the forest or the Leaf Village for that matter. His moment of calm was abruptly shattered as a circulation of energy that felt like Orochimaru's invaded his senses. It was nowhere as powerful as the Sannin's, nor was it as finely honed and controlled, but it was primal and gaining power at an alarming rate, a very bad combination.

Looking down, the blonde found the source of the energy signature: an egg that was beginning to crack and leak pale yellow energy. Naruto was hit by another surge of power as a tail like that of a snake sprouted from the egg, the shell still continuing to crack. He watched as the tail began to grow in size and, as realization dawned on him, the blonde leaped backward into the air as the egg shattered, a massive head and body shooting from its encasing and into the sky.

"I guess that I should have expected this, but really, a giant, flying snake?" Naruto asked, his voice his own, as he stared up at the creature slithering around in the sky. "He couldn't make me fight something that was ground based and that didn't draw the attention of thousands of people?"

Amaterasu's specter looked contemplative for a moment. _It would be quite hard to use a technique large enough to kill the beast without destroying this forest... and everyone in it._

"You know, being forbidden from causing massive property damage while in the village really puts a hamper on what I can do," Naruto remarked bitterly.

_I know, _Amaterasu comforted, _but at the moment, you cannot dwell on the trivial, but the problem at hand._

Naruto's eyes and stance hardened as his demeanor turned serious. "Right, the best way to deal with this snake is to draw it further into the sky and obliterate it in one swift move. But to be able to do both, we're going to need to use _that_."

_A-Are you sure?_ The beautiful specter asked.

"Yes," Naruto spoke, his eyes filled with unshakable resolve. "We're going to Release State: Level Two."

Amaterasu smiled serenely. _As you wish._

Naruto closed his eyes as the phantom behind him did the same thing before she leaned forward, her arms encircling her wielder as her body exploded into a pair of giant, black wings that looked as if they were burning and a black and red tail of a wolf. The only thing that remained of Amaterasu's previous form was the loop of cloth and tassels that flowed behind Naruto like fire.

Opening his glowing eyes, Naruto smirked behind his mask. _"Let's do this."_ And without another word, he leaped into the air and gave a mighty flap of his wings, shooting into the sky like a rocket, a trail of black reiatsu following his ascent.

Shooting past the roaring snake, the super-powered blonde tried to gain the monster's attention. _"If you want me, come and get me!"_ Deciding the tactic worked, as the snake was now flying towards him, Naruto flew backwards and then shot up further into the sky, the monstrous serpent on his tail.

"_This should be more than high enough,"_ Naruto spoke to himself after a moment as he stopped his ascent. Turning, he found the snake closing in on him, but the blonde wasn't going to give the creature a chance to attack. _"Now, prepare yourself, for this is the end of the line."_

Bringing his sword into the initial hanging guard of his unique sword style and drawing in his spectral wings and tail, the samurai began to charge his attack, a sphere of black light enshrouding his form. _"__Tensho-ryuu! Amaterasu Oomikami: Myoujou!"_

**:::::::::**  
**Forest of Death  
**_Team Seven_  
**:::::::::**

Sasuke and Natsuko, who had awoken only a few moments after Naruto showed up, something the Uchiha had been inwardly thankful for, stopped suddenly the foliage surrounding them illuminating, the greenery turning white in the light. Looking to the sky, both were shocked as they found the source of the light: a black and white star that was acting as a second sun.

A sudden pained roar broke the duo from their stupor as they watched in morbid fascination as a giant flying serpent flew head-on into the growing starlight and began to burn away, the blackened energy obliterating even the ash the creatures flesh became. Soon, the humungous snake was gone, every molecule and atom that it was composed of disintegrated.

Neither teammate could believe the power displayed. The energy output was so great that even a non-sensor type ninja could feel it, hell, even a civilian would be able to feel the raw strength of the attack.

Breaking the deafening silence, Sasuke decided he would voice his thoughts. "Holy...!"

**:::::::::**  
**Forest of Death  
**_Foreign Team  
_**:::::::::**

"... Shit!" A brown haired teenage boy with cyan eyes exclaimed as he watched the black and white star begin to die down, its light still as bright as the sun itself. "I'd fucking hate to have to fight whatever did that."

"Yeah, that's 'cause you'd get your ass handed to you in an instant, Tanken," another teenage boy pointed out as he swept his own brown hair back, though his pale violet eyes were narrowed on the dimming star as well.

Funshin Tanken frowned angrily at the insult as he turned towards his teammate. "Fuck you, Shoon! All you're good for is spewing poison."

Tsurukusa Shoon just shrugged at the words. "So I'm doing what I'm good at? I see no problem with that." Turning to their final teammate, the teen found the dark-green haired young woman staring into the sky like he and Tanken had been, her light green eyes focused intently on the slowly fading daystar, a small grin tugging at her dark-green painted lips. "What're you thinking, Kinezumi?"

The girl didn't answer as she watched the Morningstar fade... an act that had both Grass shinobi looking at each other with worried expressions.

**:::::::::**  
**Forest of Death  
**_Team Gai_  
**:::::::::**

"Holy crap!" A girl with brown hair tied into a pair of buns, Tenten, voiced her amazement at the spectacle above her. "What on Earth could do that?"

"I do not know," a boy with long dark hair and cream-white eyes without pupils answered. Though he was tempted to use his Byakugan, Hyuuga Neji refrained. He was loath to admit that he was actually afraid of using his clan's famed Kekkei Genkai, thinking that if the star was bright now, he would be blinded if he was to use his Doujutsu. "I do know that if I were to face whoever can make a star from his energy alone, I know without a doubt that my destiny would come to an end. Whoever is doing this is immensely strong, possibly even more so than the Hokage."

Tenten frowned at the answer. Her usually stoic teammate seemed... scared. That couldn't be, Neji was of the strongest, if arrogant, people she knew, his arrogance usually being well earned. Looking back up she was surprised to see the light was now gone, the forest returning to its previous sullen state. "D-Do you think that it was that Walking Natural Disaster all the jounin had been talking about?"

Before Neji could answer, Rock Lee, their third teammate, spoke up for the first time since they had entered Training Area Forty-Four. "Whatever can form such a magnificent display of power such as we have witnessed, surely has Flames of Youth™ that burns almost as brightly as Gai-sensei's!" He raised a fist, his eyes burning with the Sacred Flames of Youth™. "I am now inspired, more than ever, to work harder to becoming a brilliant shinobi! And, one day, if I push myself hard enough, I will surpass whoever this star maker is!"

Dumbstruck by the bowl-cut boy's impassioned speech, Tenten and Neji just stared at Lee oddly.

**:::::::::**  
**Outside of the Leaf**  
**:::::::::**

Orochimaru clapped his hands slowly as he watched the display of power from start to finish. "Yes, Naruto-kun, _that_ is the power I remember." He smiled, the expression twisted by sick glee, and turned to walk away. "You would do well to keep that power, if you are to survive the coming trials."

Just as he took a step, a shadowy figure stepped out in front of him, its glowing amber eyes staring into the Sannin's own. "The Queen has requested a private audience with you, Orochimaru-dono."

"Oh, and to what do I owe the honor?" The pale man asked, an eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity.

"Ukajin-sama did not say, Orochimaru-dono," the shadow figure answered truthfully. "All that I know is that she has recently met with the other Four Deities and that she is in a rather unpleasant mood as of late."

"Thank you, Daija-kun. I will leave to speak with the Queen at once," Orochimaru responded. Daija bowed slightly at the waist before vanishing back into thin air. The Snake Sannin frowned in thought as he brought a hand to his chin. "Just what could His Highness say that would put Ukajin-sama into a foul mood? I wonder... if this has anything to do with Majin-kun... or my invasion. I suppose only time will tell."

**:::::::::**  
**The Forest of Death**  
**:::::::::**

As soon as Naruto landed on the forest floor, Amaterasu resealed, he was greeted by four ninja-to swords, all poised to sever his head from his shoulders. Looking at the masked men and women, he couldn't help the amused smirk that appeared on his lips, fortunately hidden by his own mask. "Did I do something wrong?"

"We saw what you have done to this training area, one that has stood since the age of the Shodai, and that debacle you just pulled in the sky," one of the ANBU Captains spoke, his bird mask revealing none of the anger his voice did. "We have standing orders from Hokage-sama to put you under arrest if you cause any type of mayhem, son or not."

Naruto actually raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Oh, I didn't realize that defending one's self was a crime in the Leaf Village."

"'Defending'? From who?" One of the female Captains asked, her dog mask not showing her curiosity.

"Orochimaru," was the only answer that the ANBU needed.

The Captains removed their swords from Naruto's throat, allowing the blonde haired man rub the unfamiliar sensation from his neck.

"You're sure it was Orochimaru?" A second male Captain asked, this one wearing a monkey mask.

The ronin nodded. "Yes, I am. He looks the same as he did almost a decade ago."

"You've met him before?" The dog-masked Captain questioned.

"That's right," Naruto said with another nod. Behind his mask, his eyes took a nostalgic look. "Back then, I was only an Apprentice, patrolling a town he ended up destroying, only to prove his power."

A bear masked ANBU snorted, her mask hiding her morbid amusement. "Definitely sounds like that twisted bastard. Bet Mitarashi-san would just _love_ to hear about this."

The bird masked Captain shook his head. "Your past with that traitor is irrelevant, all that matters is the here and now, and we still have orders to take you in."

"That won't be necessary," a voice spoke, turning all attention to Yuugao, who had just arrived in the small clearing via Body Flicker.

"But, Uzuki-tai-!" Bird started but was silenced by a wave of Yuugao's hand.

"He's in my custody, and as such, I will decide his punishment. This is an order Hokage-sama gave to me personally and I intend on following it," the purple haired Jounin told the Captain. She crossed her arms and gave the man a hard look. "Or would you like to explain to the Hokage how you kept me from accomplishing his Will?"

Bird stared at Yuugao for a heartbeat before relenting with a sigh. "No, ma'am. He's yours to do with as you wish."

"If I may ask," Naruto interjected, "why were you five out here to begin with?"

"We were alerted of a high-risk disturbance within this training area and dispatched by Hokage-sama. I guess we instinctively thought it was you," Bear answered sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that."

Naruto bowed his head slightly, accepting the apology. He turned towards Bird, staring into man's mask eyeholes. "Orochimaru was the one you were alerted about, but trying to track him down now will be of no use. He has already left the borders of the village and has quite possibly escaped the country by now."

The Captain nodded his thanks. "We'll return to the Hokage and give him our report. You should do the same soon." With that said, the five captains disappeared, vanishing into thin air.

Naruto ignored their disappearance, opting to turn to his left, looking into the forest. "I am sorry that I was unable to kill Orochimaru for you, Anko-san."

Yuugao turned to where the blonde man was looking and watched as her fellow kunoichi dropped to the forest floor, having sensed someone as well. "So, that's who was spying on our little meaning."

"I couldn't help myself, I wanted to see what the hell was going on," Anko responded with a grin as she stood from her crouch. The woman raised an eyebrow at Yuugao, who was, instead of her ANBU uniform, wearing a dark gray hooded shirt with yellow stripes, the shirt cutting off five centimeters under her breasts, revealing not only her toned midriff, but also a generous amount of cleavage, and a light grey mini-skirt over a pair of tight black shorts. Black gloves and thigh-high ninja boots topped off the new look. "Damn, didn't know ANBU personnel knew anything about style."

Naruto had a similar reaction to the Jounin's new look, though it was hidden quite well. Masks tended to do that. Ignoring that thought, he turned to Anko, and gauged the woman for a moment. "I apologize, Anko-san, I was not able to kill Orochimaru as I had planned."

The Snake Mistress just waved off the rather sincere apology. "Ah, that's okay. I never really expected the bastard to die that easily anyway. I mean, you're one hell of a trump card, but that asshole has always been going on and on about his dream of becoming immortal and then learning every possible Jutsu ever thought up."

"Then it shouldn't come as a shock to you to learn that he has achieved immortality, or so he says," Naruto imparted. "It makes no difference to me though."

"Why not?" Yuugao questioned, slightly disheartened to learn that one of the Leaf's greatest traitors was now invincible. Next the swordsman was going to say that Uchiha Itachi had achieved some type of Deus Ex Machina with his eyes that made him impervious to all attacks and that Uchiha Madara was still alive looking to achieve Godhood. She couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine at the thought.

Naruto turned to her and took off his mask, revealing amused eyes and a confident smirk. "Simple, anything and everything can die. One only needs to exert the right amount of power to make it a fact. If you really need assurance, the next time I face Orochimaru, I will not hold back."

"Wait," Anko interrupted, disbelief written over her features. "You call destroying a sizable chunk of this forest and that scene you pulled in the sky '_holding back_'?"

The blonde man just gave her a look that said, 'are you stupid?' "If I had done anything differently, this forest, and everyone in it, including you, would've been obliterated by that attack."

"Oh," Anko let out sheepishly. She hadn't thought of that.

"Well, while this is all nice and good, we should all really report to Hokage-sama," Yuugao interjected with a frown as the tension from Naruto's revelation wore off. "I'm sure he'll want to know what happened here," she turned to Naruto, her frown deepening, "and just why you thought it was a good idea to use an attack that created a star more than half a village could see."

"Right," Naruto acquiesced as he put his mask back on. "Minato – Father – will want to hear about Orochimaru's plans, and most likely my past with him, as well."

Anko grinned. "What're we waiting for?"

**:::::::::**  
**The Tower  
**_Four Days Later_  
**:::::::::**

Sakura shuffled her feet slightly as she and her teammates stood in lines with the other teams who had passed the second portion of the chuunin exams. While she was thankful that both Teams Eight and Ten had passed the test, meaning Team Seven wasn't the only rookie team there, she was more than nervous about all the other teams, especially the foreign ones, like the Sand Team, or even the Sound Team that Team Seven had defeated to pass.

The pink haired girl looked back up as the Hokage continued explaining the true purpose of the Chuunin Exams. It wasn't that she was trying to tune the man out or anything, as she knew that what he was talking about was very important, it was just that she already knew it, and it was a little bit boring to hear the lecture once again.

Just as the Hokage's speech reached the part about the third portion of the Exams, Sakura's boredom instantly became fear as the demon from her nightmares landed in front of the Hokage. The black-clad blob stood and turned, revealing itself to be a man that easily towered over every chuunin-hopeful, his glowing blood red eyes looking at each of them with murderous intent as his hand reached for the sword sheathed on his back.

Images of blood-like mist assaulted her mind, images that had the monster before her right in the center of the crimson haze. And for the life of her, Sakura couldn't help the scream that escaped her throat before collapsing under the weight of the intense fear that plagued her mind.

"Well... that's new."

* * *

**Translation(s):** Sakki - Thirst for blood (fitting, no?); Sen Nin no Satsugai - Thousand Man Slayer or Slayer of a Thosand Men (I guess)

******:::::::::**

**Technique(s):**

**Name: **Shi no Kanran no Jutsu! (Death Viewing Technique!)  
**Type: **General Skill  
**User(s):** Anyone  
**Description:** This is just focused Killing Intent. This technique is sometimes confused as a genjutsu, but it is in fact _not_.

**Name: **Tensho-ryuu! Amaterasu Oomikami: Myoujou! (Piercing Heaven Style! Sun Goddess: Morningstar!)  
**Type:** S-Rank, Offensive, All Ranges  
**User(s):** Uzumaki Naruto (Known)  
**Description:** This technique is used within the unique and ancient sword style Tensho-ryuu and in conjuntion with the ancient nodachi _Amaterasu_. To use this technique, the user must enter _Release State: Level Two_ of _Amaterasu_. The user will create a sphere of energy around themselves and charge the attack. The longer the charge, the more energy is collected, meaning the attack will be that more destructive. When 'fired', the charged energy will pulse outwards into a star-like shape. This 'star' will burn and obliterate everything in its path, even simplistic atoms.

**:::::::::**

**Author's Note**: Whew! Done! Thank goodness. So, did you like it? I'm a little iffy on it, and I'll be the first to say that it isn't my greatest piece, but, I'm just glad I was finally able to get it out. Like I said earlier, this chapter was a bitch to write and I don't even know why. Doesn't matter now. I'm planning on soon going back to the previous chapters and cleaning them up a bit, maybe even changing a couple of them, you know, like, how Sasuke gets the Mangekyou? Yeah, I don't think I thought that out too thoroughly. Either that, or I forgot what I wanted to do with it.

Anyway, I might tomorrow start working on Ch. 11, not sure really. I'm pretty sure of the direction this fic is going to go in, though my ideas are always changing, or coming up with new ones. Like just a week ago I had a pretty good idea for a Naruto/Fairy Tail xover and just the other day I had an idea that involved Fem!Sasuke and Fem!Itachi. Ah, whatever. I was also thinking of making a forum for this story, so you, the readers, and maybe I, could discuss possibilities and plot ideas. I'm not sure if I should do that though. What do you guys think? I think if I did that, having someone constantly screaming at me 'Update you Idiot!' would help, but maybe hamper me as well, I wouldn't know. Again, tell me what you think.

Also, again, I'm sorry this took a whole fucking year to get out. I'll try not to do that again, but I make no promises. After all, I do have a life to live. Now if you don't mind, this loser that has no life is going to go sit in a corner and cry (Sniffles).

Until next time, RisenInfection, out!


End file.
